Wake Up Call: Skadden in Talks to Do Pro Bono Work for Heritage

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

• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom held talks about doing unpaid work for conservative think-tank The Heritage Foundation, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The firm reportedly discussed how it might support the foundation and had signaled it was open to working on some projects for it, though Skadden has not yet carried out any such work or agreed to do so. Skadden previously declined to do work requested by The Oversight Project, which spun off from The Heritage Foundation earlier this year. (Financial Times)
• Litigation funder Archetype Capital Partners is suing one of its co-founders and a law firm, accusing them of stealing client information and other internal business secrets. The lawsuit claims Archetype co-founder Andrew Schneider and Georgia-based law firm Bullock Legal used the company’s trade secrets and confidential information to secure investment funding for cases, particularly a growing wave of video game addiction litigation. (Reuters)
• Disney asked a judge to slap sanctions on five plaintiff attorneys who the movie studio says pursued trade secret and copyright infringement claims over the “Moana” movie based on purported facts that they knew were false. The studio is seeking $533,000 to recoup legal costs tied to defending what it calls frivolous, time-barred claims from an animator who claims “Moana” is a ripoff of a script he created. Disney is accusing the lawyers of using a forged confidentiality agreement and misrepresenting when the animator learned of “Moana.” (Courthouse News Service)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Ed Chang joined Morrison Foerster as a partner in its complex litigation group in Los Angeles. He joins from Jones Day.
• Andrea Gede-Lange joined Clifford Chance as a partner in its private equity practice. She joins from Fried Frank.
• Tom Dell’Avvocato joined Crowell & Moring as a partner in its financial services group in London. He joins from Squire Patton Boggs.