Wake Up Call: Ropes Parries Layoff Rumors, Cites ‘Merit’ Reviews

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

• Ropes & Gray countered social media rumors of layoffs at the firm with a statement to Law.com that if it makes job cuts they will be based on performance reviews. Kirkland & Ellis earlier this month similarly denied making layoffs, calling its job cuts a result of performance evaluations. (American Lawyer) Several other firms have recently announced job cuts. (BLAW)
• Milbank LLP told their incoming class of first-year associates they will not delay their start date. The message was aimed at easing the new lawyers’ minds after Cooley LLP and Gunderson Dettmer Stough both put off starts for their classes. (Above The Law)
• Perkins Coie said technology transactions and litigation, in particular patent litigation, were among factors helping its gross revenue eke up 0.7% to a record $1.16 billion in 2022, despite its recent loss of a 70-lawyer elections law group. Average PEP at the Seattle-based firm sank 8.5% to $1.52 million on rising expenses. (American Lawyer)
• The American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce named former US Attorney General Bill Barr to lead the conservative business group’s new legal arm, The Center for Legal Action. (Politico)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Schulte Roth & Zabel’s focus on work for private capital clients helped it raise gross revenue 8.1% to a record $509.4 million in 2022. It’s average profits per equity partner contracted 0.7% to $3.62 million as it added five equity partners to total 69. (American Lawyer)
• Paul Weiss is advising a committee of independent directors of Garrett Motion Inc., a Nasdaq-listed provider of automotive technology, on its agreements to simplify its capital structure via a repurchase, at a “market price,” of around $570 million in shares from investment firms Centerbridge Partners and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. Morris Nichols is also advising the committee on the agreements, according to a statement. (Globe Newswire)
• A Cooley venture capital associate in London is on leave after conviction for stalking ex-girlfriend, according to a report. (Roll On Friday)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Cushman & Wakefield said chemical industry top lawyer Noelle Perkins will join the commercial real estate services firm as executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary on July 1. Perkins, currently senior VP, general counsel, chief risk officer and secretary at special chemical distributor Univar Solutions, was earlier chief counsel, oilseeds processing, at Archers Daniels Midland Company. Cushman’s current top lawyer is Brett Soloway. (CushmanWakefield.com)
• Goodwin Procter hired real estate lawyer Dustin Calkins as partner in San Francisco. He arrives after close to 12 years at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, including as partner. (GoodwinLaw.com)
• McCarter & English grabbed Baker Botts patent attorney Michael Sartori as intellectual property partner in Washington. He has a doctorate in electrical engineering and earlier spent 20 years at Venable, where he was partner and chair of the patent prosecution and counseling group. (McCarter.com)
• Holland & Knight brought in Morgan Lewis antitrust and commercial litigator Romeo Quinto as partner in Chicago. (HKLaw.com)
• Sheppard Mullin hired White & Case corporate and securities attorney Wonsun Jung as partner in Seoul, Korea. She’ll also serve as the office’s co-managing partner. (SheppardMullin.com)
• Alternative dispute resolution services provider JAMS recruited former Loeb & Loeb and Katten Muchin Rosenman trial partner Daniel A. Platt as an arbitrator and mediator on its panel in Los Angeles. (JAMSadr.com)
• Eckert Seamans added Philadelphia-based medical malpractice defense litigator Cynthia Brennan as a member. She arrives from Rawle & Henderson. (EckertSeamans.com)

Legal Education

• Temple University appointed the former dean of its Beasley School of Law, JoAnne Epps, president of the university, taking over from Jason Wingard. Epps is a former Philadelphia assistant US attorney. (Law.com)