Wake Up Call: Reynen Court Axes Staff, Kills Stock Offering

Welcome to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call, a daily rundown of the top news for lawyers, law firms, and in-house counsel.

• Facing a grim market outlook, Reynen Court Inc., the legal technology platform backed by 20 law firms and 22 corporate legal departments, has canceled the big stock offering it announced months ago, and suspended access for vendors. Reynen Court also made major job cuts, but says it is still operating. (Artificial Lawyer)
• Kansas City, Missouri-based commercial litigation defense law firms Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice and Foland Wickens Roper Hofer & Crawford said they agreed to merge Jan. 1, 2023. The combined firm, Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice, will have more than 90 attorneys in offices across Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. (BakerSterchi.com)
• Katten Muchin Rosenman’s new 140,000-square-foot space offices for its 160 attorneys plus staff at Manhattan’s 50 Rockefeller Plaza reflects big changes in the legal industry. (Commercial Observer)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Since the US Supreme Court issued its Dobbs ruling overturning Roe v. Wade in June, reproductive rights pro bono work has soared for several Big Law firms. (American Lawyer)
• A federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted two tax attorneys and an insurance agent on charges related to a $200 million insurance scam and and a fraudulent tax shelter. (Insurance Business America)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Squire Patton Boggs hired Madrid, Spain-based M&A and private equity partner Carlos Blanco Morillo and his team of three associates. The attorneys arrive from Spanish firm Roca Junyent, where Blanco led the Madrid office’s corporate and M&A department and was previously office managing partner. (SquirePattonBoggs.com)
• Withers grabbed Dentons’ Hong Kong private funds practice head Simon Wong as a cross-border funds partner in the city. (WithersWorldwide.com)
• Moses Singer brought in corporate and securities attorney Ruth Jin as a partner in New York. (MosesSinger.com)
• Vedder Price added real estate attorney Alexander Berger as a shareholder in the firm’s New York office. He arrives from Meyer Suozzi English & Klein, where he was chair of the real estate department. (VedderPrice.com)
• Financial tech company Avant hired former Mayer Brown corporate and securities partner Ryan Lawrence as general counsel. His former roles include deputy GC at real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield, and he was recently top lawyer at used auto e-commerce platform Shift Technologies, Inc. (Businesswire)
• Climate risk solutions platform Arbol hired another former Mayer Brown attorney, Matthew Gabin, recently counsel at reinsurer Swiss Re, to be its new chief legal officer and deputy chief operating officer. (Reinsurance News)
• Weil Gotshal promoted 12 lawyers to partner effective Jan. 1, 2023. It promoted 36 lawyers to counsel. (Weil.com) Vinson & Elkins promoted a firm record 20 attorneys to partner and 20 to counsel. (VELaw.com)

Technology

• Legal practice management platform Clio launched an e-payments solution for the Canadian legal market. (Newswire.ca)

Legal Education

• Law schools at University of California at Los Angeles, Duke, and Northwestern are among the latest to drop out of U.S. News & World Report’s law school rankings. (Reuters)