Wake Up Call: Shearman, Togut Guide Vice Media Bankruptcy

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

• Vice Media got advice from Shearman & Sterling and New York bankruptcy boutique Togut Segal & Segal on its bankruptcy filing and agreement to sell itself to a consortium of creditors. Gibson Dunn is advising the consortium. (PR Newswire)
• Rudy Giuliani, the former New York Mayor and US Attorney who later became lawyer to then-President Donald Trump, was hit by a former employee’s $10 million lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault, wage theft, and other misconduct. (Daily Beast) (Politico)
• US law firm leasing in this year’s first quarter had its strongest start since 2019. (Savills.com)
• As law firms get tough on enforcing their in-office attendance policies, Simpson Thacher is the latest firm to require compliance with its policy to get a full bonus. (Above The Law) Morgan Lewis practice group chairs want their attorneys in office three days a week. (Legal Intelligencer)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Holland & Knight expanded in Colombia, acquiring the 28 lawyers, including seven partners, plus staff of business law firm Cuberos Cortés Gutiérrez in Bogota. (HKLaw.com)
• Baker Botts grabbed a seven lawyer, three-partner, energy projects team from Ashurst to open a new office in Singapore. (Baker Botts)
• Labor and employment law firm Ogletree Deakins opened a new permanent office in Belfast, Ireland. (Belfast Telegraph)
• Britney Spears paid Greenberg Traurig litigator Mathew Rosengart $4.2 million in legal fees for his work getting her released from her conservatorship, among other things. (TMZ) Money well spent, a legal blogger commented. (Above The Law)
• Attorneys in Florida are now required to put client funds in accounts with the highest interest. (Tampa Business Journal)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Blank Rome took nine commercial and real estate litigation attorneys from Akerman in two teams for its litigation group in New York. Partners Craig Weiner, Lisa Coyle, and Reena Jain; of counsel Eamon O’Kelly; and associate Alexander Newman handle a wide range of litigation and corporate matters for clients including big corporations, high-net-worth individuals, celebrities, startups, private funds, and financial institutions. Partner Massimo F. D’Angelo, who will serve as co-chair of Blank Rome’s real estate industry team, and of counsel Robert Chester, Ofer Reger, and Gregory Wong focus their practices on real estate litigation and complex commercial disputes in state and federal courts throughout the country as well as internationally. (Blank Rome)
• Kirkland & Ellis brought back former partner John Lausch, who recently stepped down after five years as US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and returns as partner. (Kirkland.com)
• Winston & Strawn added energy and private equity transactions partners Rodney Moore and Sam Peca from Weil Gotshal in Dallas. Moore was co-managing partner of Weil’s Dallas office. (Winston.com)
• Davis Polk & Wardwell picked up Gibson Dunn antitrust attorney Caroline Ziser Smith as counsel in Washington. (DavisPolk.com)
• Employment law firm Jackson Lewis PC grabbed Ogletree shareholders Christian Keeney, Patricia Matias, and Alis Moon as principals in Orange County, California. (JacksonLewis.com)
• Accounts payable fintech Tipalti announced it took in $150 million in growth financing from JPMorgan Chase Bank and business development company Hercules Capital, Inc., and said it hired veteran securities and M&A attorney and in-house leader Alice Davidson as general counsel. (Tipalti.com)
• Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit media and educational organization behind Sesame Street, promoted senior vice president and deputy general counsel Valerie Johnston to executive vice president, legal & business affairs, and general counsel effective July 1. She was also named board secretary. (SesameWorkshop.org)
• Longtime Adobe in-house counsel Stephanie Warner, recently as director, associate general counsel, announced she started a new job as top lawyer at education and training site Go1. (LinkedIn.com)