Wake Up Call: Risks Rising for U.K. Firms With Russian Clients

In today’s column, civil rights attorney Ben Crump co-founded a new organization aimed at promoting leadership roles for nonwhite attorneys; Michael Avenatti is hiring back the public defenders he fired in January; California’s bar revived work on developing nontraditional legal services.

• Leading off, the U.K. government is warning law firms, public relations and other professional services firms working to help Russian oligarchs avoid U.K. sanctions that they could get hit by financial penalties themselves. (The Guardian)
• U.S. firms still in Moscow after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine face reputational risks for representing Russian clients and, because of sanctions, the firms may not even be able to get paid. (Law.com International)
• Some American law firms have quickly made it known that they’ve dropped Russian clients on sanctions lists, but others with offices and people in Moscow are wary of exposing their lawyers and staff to retaliation. (American Lawyer)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who gained fame representing families of George Floyd and Trayvon Martin, has co-founded Shades of Mass, an organization that says it aims to help lawyers of color get leadership roles in mass torts. (Law.com)
• A Manhattan federal judge granted Michael Avenatti permission to bring back the public defenders he fired in January. Avenatti said he needs help preparing for sentencing on his convictions for wire fraud and identity theft. (New York Law Journal)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Covington & Burling in London grabbed Weil Gotshal corporate partner Mark Thompson as a partner and co-chair of Covington’s private equity practice. According to his LinkedIn profile, Thompson has previously been a partner at Sidley Austin for six years and at King & Spalding for 18 years; Ropes & Gray added former Kirkland & Ellis private equity and corporate finance partner Bianca Levin-Soler as a partner in Los Angeles; Katten Muchin hired a former New York City housing department commissioner, Louise Carroll, as a partner in the firm’s real estate practice, effective March 1; Morgan Lewis & Bockius hired two tax attorneys who are leaving Singapore’s tax authority: Kai Lee Lau joins as a partner and director of the firm’s Singapore brand Morgan Lewis Stamford, while Rajiv Rai joins as an associate; big U.K. firm Mishcon de Reya hired London-based Slaughter and May real estate attorney Lee Foxcroft as a partner; Schulte Roth & Zabel hired intellectual property lawyer Alexander Kim as a partner in New York and head of its IP, sourcing & technology group. (PR Newswire)
• Sidley Austin said a longtime litigation partner at the firm, Frank Favia, who left in 2020 to become executive vice president and general counsel at financial services firm Guaranteed Rate, returned to Sidley in Chicago as a partner; Perkins Coie hired former Arizona Court of Appeals judge Diane Johnsen as a member in its litigation and appellate practice in Phoenix; Mayer Brown snagged longtime Locke Lord trial partner Brandon Renken as a partner in Houston. (MayerBrown.com)
• Legal tech firm Epic Systems Inc. brought in veteran legal operations and tech consultant Cole Morgan as senior director, legal business advisory. He was most recently vice president of operations at enterprise workflow automation software company Onit, Inc. (Yahoo!)
• Citizens Financial Group, Inc. hired Capital One Financial Corp. in-house leader Polly N. Klane as its general counsel and chief legal officer, effective April 4; San Francisco-based diagnostics company Veracyte Inc. recruited biotech and pharma industry in-house leader Annie McGuire, who spent 13 years at Amgen, Inc., to be its executive vice president and general counsel; Blockchain company tZero Group, Inc. appointed its former interim CEO and legal chief, Alan Konevsky, as executive vice president and chief legal and corporate affairs officer; insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty hired former New York-based AXA chief legal officer and executive vice president William Fawcett as its new regional head of legal for North America, based in Chicago. (Reinsurance News)

Legal Education

• The State Bar of California said it is resuming work on a proposal for a regulatory sandbox to test new legal services and business models aimed at improving access to justice. (ABA Journal)