Wake Up Call: Shearman Says It’s Making More Global Staff Cuts

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

• Shearman & Sterling is laying off an unspecified number of business services staff in a “global workforce reduction,” a legal blog reported citing an internal message. (Above The Law) New York-based Shearman, whose revenues and profits plunged in in 2022, recently named a new leader after unsuccessful merger talks with Hogan & Lovells. It laid off 38 US attorneys and staff in February. Several other Big Law firms have resorted to job cuts to protect their profits amid uncertainty. (BLAW)
• Longtime Democratic lawyer Marc Elias will no long represent The Democratic National Committee, according to a report citing “multiple sources.” Elias, who served as general counsel for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, left Perkins Coie in 2021 after close to 29 years at the firm, where he was chair of the political law group. (Punchbowl via Election Law Blog)
• White & Case’s gross revenues slipped 1.5% from their 2021 record, down to $2.83 billion in 2022, as its capital markets and M&A deal work slumped. That’s still its second-best year ever. The firm’s average profits per equity partner dove 20.2% $2.8 billion due to adding 27 equity partners, among other things. (American Lawyer)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Winston & Strawn’s “absolutely off-the-charts” litigation work helped it offset a drop in deal work to hold its taper down in gross revenues to 0.6% to $1.15 billion in 2022. Its average PEP rose 4% $3.14 billion as it shed about 13 equity partners. (American Lawyer)
• London listed law firm Ince & Co lost a major creditor and plans to file for the UK equivalent of bankruptcy to seek a sale of the company. (Global Legal Post) The move puts junior lawyer trainees at the firm in limbo. (Legal Cheek)
• UK elite firm Linklaters won a 7.5 million pound ($9.4 million) contract to advise on a project led by France’s Electricité de France to construct a nuclear power station in Suffolk, UK. (The Lawyer)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Bausch + Lomb Corporation brought back its former top lawyer and executive Bob Bailey as executive vice president and chief legal officer. Bailey, who was a Nixon Peabody associate early in his career, is a veteran health care and tech industry in-house leader and executive. He previously spent 16 years at Bausch & Lomb and returns from health information technology Datavant, where he was chief legal officer. Christina Ackermann, Bausch + Lomb’s current EVP, general counsel, and president, ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, is leaving April 28. (Bausch.com)
• Saul Ewing said former Massachusetts assistant US attorney Evan Gotlob joined the firm’s Boston office as partner in its white collar & government enforcement practice. He’ll also work from the firm’s New York and Philadelphia offices. (Saul.com)
• Foley & Lardner grabbed intellectual property litigator M. Andrew Holtman as partner from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. He has a doctorate in molecular genetics and was earlier partner at Finnegan. (Foley.com)
• Mintz LLP boosted its private equity and life sciences capabilities in Toronto, Canada, adding partners Matthew Atkey and Brad Tartick, and special counsel Bernard Kwasniewski from Torys LLP. Of counsel Matthew Imrie joined from Dentons. (Mintz)
• Chicago-based firm Much Shelist said real estate principal Courtney Mayster will be the firm’s first female managing partner when she starts on June 14. (MuchLaw.com)
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer promoted 30 attorneys to partner, effective May 1. (Freshfields.com)

Legal Education

• University of Virginia Law School and Notre Dame Law School are expanding their loan forgiveness programs. (Law.com)