Wake Up Call: Several Firms Advise as Goodyear Buys Cooper

In today’s column, Jones Day had the most lawyers working on Covid-related disputes last year, a report says; meanwhile, more firms posted pandemic-defying revenue and profits for 2020; Arnold Porter got hired by a state-owned Turkish defense company to lobby the Biden administration; Davis Polk poached a Freshfields capital markets partner in China.

• Leading off, Paul, Weiss and Covington & Burling are advising Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company on its approximately $2.8 billion acquisition of rival tire company Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, in a deal announced Monday. Jones Day is advising Cooper on the transaction, which will create a combined company with about $17.5 billion in pro forma 2019 sales, according to a statement. (PR Newswire)
• Jones Day had more lawyers working on Covid-19-related disputes last year than any other firm, a report says. (Above the Law)
• The pandemic forced law firms to make greater use of digital marketing, but it remains to be seen how they’ll use that tool in the post pandemic market, a report says. (American Lawyer)
• Bankruptcy work and a “great” working relationship with Kirkland & Ellis helped power Jackson Walker’s 5.4% gain in gross revenue to a record $305.5 million, as some of the Dallas-based firm’s other practices were also busy during the pandemic. The firm’s average PEP rose 8.7% to $1.22 million. (Texas Lawyer)
• Cleveland-founded Baker & Hostetler‘s new data practice and its strategic plan drove 7.8% growth in revenues to $789.4 million last year despite’s Covid’s economic bite. The firm’s profits per equity partner soared 26% to about $1.6 million. (American Lawyer)
• Jenner & Block’s gross revenue shrank 0.4% in 2020 to $446.3 million, but its PEP rose 9% to about $1.74 million. (American Lawyer)
• Shook, Hardy & Bacon’s courtroom work stalled last year because of Covid but as it used arbitration and mediation to settle disputes instead it managed to grow revenue 3.2% to about $354 million. Cost and compensation cuts helped its average PEP jump 16.8% to $995,000. (American Lawyer)
• Over a dozen law firms and corporate legal departments and other organizations are contributing to an annual charity effort to support the Food Bank for New York City. (New York Law Journal)

Biden Administration, Election Litigation, Fallout From Capitol Riots

• President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, Merrick Garland, is set to finally get his Senate confirmation hearing starting today. (Bloomberg News)
• The Manhattan district attorney recruited Paul, Weiss white collar partner Mark Pomerantz as a special prosecutor on its team investigation of former President Donald Trump’s finances. Pomerantz is a former federal prosecutor. (NYT)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Washington-based Arnold & Porter got a $750,000 contract to provide legal and lobbying help to a Turkish state-owned defense industry company seeking reentry into the F-35 fighter jet program it got booted from about two years ago, according to a report. (Middle East Monitor)
• Lawyers for insurance companies asked the judge in the Boys Scout of America bankruptcy to allow them to serve document requests on 1,400 people who have filed sexual abuse claims and to question scores of them under oath. (Insurance Journal)
• South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is only facing misdemeanor criminal charges after killing a man with his car last year, but he may also face impeachment, a report says. (Argus Leader)
• One of Georgia’s best-known defense lawyers—who some say was the inspiration for TV legal drama “Matlock”—has died at age 94. (WSBTV.com)
• Lead counsel in the Roundup MDL settlements defended their request for $800 million in fees. (The Recorder)
• Seyfarth Shaw released a 50-state reference to trade-secret and noncompete laws. (Seyarth.com)
• Silicon Valley venture capital valuations rose broadly for all industries in 2021’s fourth quarter, with software and internet/digital media industries recording the strongest valuation results, according to a report from Fenwick & West. (Fenwick.com)

Diversity & Inclusion

• Ropes & Gray associates can get up to 100 hours of billable hours credit for work on diversity & inclusion matters. (Above the Law)
• Coca-Cola, Inc.’s top lawyer Bradley Gayton says he seeks to “create demand” for diversity. (BLAW)
• Two Akin Gump partners said “hundreds” of law students are showing up for their discussions on being a minority in Big Law. Podcast. (Law.com)
• Blank Rome said partner Melanie S. Carter was picked to represent the firm on the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellows Program, while associates Asima J. Ahmad and Ernestine J. Mings represent the firm on the LCLD’s Pathfinders program. (BlankRome.com)

Laterals, Moves

• Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough partner Robert Crowe, co-chair of that firm’s government relations practice, is leaving to start his own lobbying shop, RB Croww, a report says. (Politico)
• HFW recruited Reed Smith energy resources and commodities partner Dan Perera in Singapore, after poaching Reed Smith’s Singapore managing partner for its global transactional practice in January. (HFW.com)
• Davis Polk & Wardwell hired Hong Kong capital markets lawyer Jason Xu as a partner in its corporate department in Beijing. Xu arrives from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he was deputy head of equity capital markets in China. (DavisPolk.com)
• Fox Rothschild brought on real estate lawyer Jed Beardsley as a partner. Beardsley also advises on tax and estate planning and arrives after 20 years at Baker Donelson, including 13 years as a shareholder. (FoxRothschild.com)
• Fox Rothschild also hired Akerman cannabis transactions lawyer Sean P. Coyle in West Palm Beach as a corporate partner. (FoxRothschild.com)
• Weil, Gotshal & Manges snagged Akin Gump private equity M&A specialist Ackneil M. (Trey) Muldrow, III as a partner in its private equity practice in New York. Muldrow was Akin Gump’s New York office partner in charge and a member of its global corporate steering committee. (Weil.com)
• Kleinberg Kaplan added corporate and securities lawyer David Pentlow as senior counsel in its private funds & investment management practice. (KKWC.com)
• DLA Piper’s Bogota, Colombia branch added former Paris-based Shearman & Sterling associate Ricardo Alarcon in Bogota as director of the firm’s new international arbitration practice. (DLAPiper.com)

In-House

• Legal technology company InCloud LLC hired Kirkland partner Luke Ruse as its first general counsel. (BLAW)

Promotions

• Orrick promoted 14 lawyers (seven women) to partner effective Jan. 1, 2021 across seven markets worldwide. (Orrick.com)

Technology

• Artificial intelligence’s vast potential for use in legal tech tools is running into practical, regulatory, and other hurdles, a panel said. (Legaltech News)