Wake Up Call: Senate Confirms Gibson Dunn Partner to NY Court

In today’s column, as law firm demand cools, so have lateral moves; Atlanta-based Taylor English merged with a three-lawyer Charlotte firm; and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was hit by a new sexual harassment suit.

• Leading off, the US Senate last week confirmed in a voice vote Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s longtime litigation and crisis management partner Jennifer Rearden to serve as a US District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Rearden, a one-time Trump nominee later became President Joe Biden’s first judicial pick unanimously backed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. She had faced opposition by progressives. (Congress.gov)
• Former clients of Quinn Emanuel are fighting in Washington federal court the firm’s claim that they owe $1.4 million in legal fees. (Reuters)
• A side effect of the recent drop in legal industry demand is a cooling off in lateral movement. “People aren’t leaving,” commented the chair of a Big Law firm. (American Lawyer)
• A new survey of 751 legal professionals finds client demand for tech-enabled law firms soared in 2022 and is expected to keep increasing. Only about 35% of respondents said their organizations are “very prepared” to address the increasing importance of legal technology. (WoltersKluwer.com)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• A woman who served as an aide to former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo filed a federal lawsuit accusing Cuomo and three former staff of gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation. (New York Law Journal)
• The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday greenlighted a citizen’s challenge to the state attorney general’s $75 million legal fee award to two Columbia law firms in a settlement over disposal of plutonium. (The State)
• After attorneys for Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz abruptly and unexpectedly rested their case Wednesday, an argument broke out between the visibly miffed judge and a defense attorney. (Politico)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Atlanta-founded Taylor English said it added three attorneys and a new office in Charlotte, North Carolina, through a merger with local firm Gorman & Associates, which focused on commercial real estate, corporate and business matters, estate planning and trust administration; Davis Wright Tremaine added veteran transactional attorney Don Meier as a partner in Washington. He arrives after about seven months as a partner at Mitchell Sandler; Nelson Mullins added transactions attorney Jason Brace in Nashville, Tennessee, as a partner; Hogan Lovells hired finance and fintech attorney Bryony Widdup from DLA Piper as a partner in London; Fox Rothschild hired Troutman Pepper registered patent attorney Kathleen Johnson as a partner in intellectual property department in the Philadelphia area. (Fox Rothschild)
• Loeb & Loeb picked up Venable regulatory attorney Kristen Klesh as a partner in Washington. She will focus on Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission regulatory matters; K&L Gates added crypto legal consultant Carly E. Howard as of counsel in Miami in its asset management and investment funds practice. She’s a former bank executive and Big Law attorney and joins from her independent consultancy; Jones Walker hired veteran maritime litigator Lara DiCristina as a partner in New Orleans; FisherBroyles promoted Philadelphia-based commercial and business litigation partner Jill Guldin to assistant general counsel. (FisherBroyles)
• Food ingredients and distilled and branded spirits company MGP Ingredients, Inc. named veteran in-house leader Curtis Landherr chief legal officer, effective Oct. 17. He was recently senior vice president and general counsel at Cirrus Aircraft; in its second legal team hire of the week, LoanDepot, Inc., a consumer mortgage lender, hired former general counsel and executive vice president of Caliber Home Loans Gregory Smallwood to be chief legal officer and corporate secretary. (PR Newswire)

Legal Education

• The University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law got a $1 million donation from an alum to start an innovation fund. (University of Hawaii News)