Wake Up Call: Three Days in the Office Takes Root, Survey Finds

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

• As Big Law firms continue their push to get attorneys back into the office post-pandemic, most firms responding to a recent survey said they either encourage or require attorneys to come in at least three days a week. (American Lawyer)
• FTX.com’s former chief regulatory officer Daniel Friedberg reportedly accused Ryne Miller, the top lawyer of the bankrupt crypto exchange, of “channeling” business to his former law firm, Sullivan & Cromwell. The allegation, in a Jan. 19 filing, comes as a federal bankruptcy judge considers a motion to boot S&C as FTX’s counsel in the case or limit its role. (CoinTelegraph)
• Partners at US firms in London are generating about 25% more profit on average than their rivals at big UK firms, but they might also be more vulnerable to a downturn, a report says. (LegalCheek.com)
• The Tennessee department of corrections fired its general counsel and another official after an independent investigation found errors and poor oversight in the state’s lethal injection program. (The Tennessean)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Big Israeli firms Goldfarb Seligman & Co. and Gross & Co are reported to be merging to become Goldfarb Gross Seligman, making it the country’s biggest law firm with 520 lawyers. (Globes)
• Columbus, Ohio-based Bricker & Eckler and Cincinnati-based Graydon Head & Ritchey announced plans for a “merger of equals” effective April 3. The new firm Bricker Graydon will have about 208 attorneys and 170 staff and 20 practice areas. (Bricker.com)
• Nashville’s legal landscape has long been dominated by local players, but Holland & Knight’s recent merger with Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis is the latest evidence that big national players are arriving in the market. (Nashville Business Journal)
• A year after entering the San Francisco market, Eversheds-Sutherland said it opened new office space in the city’s financial district. (Eversheds-Sutherland.com)
• Alec Baldwin’s Quinn Emanuel attorney Luke Nikas slammed New Mexico criminal charges against the actor in the “Rust” shooting accident of 2021 and said he will beat them in court. (Deadline)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Goodwin Procter grabbed Morgan Lewis intellectual property litigator Sharon Smith as a partner in San Francisco; Goodwin also snagged Kirkland & Ellis investment funds partner Jacqueline Eaves in London as a partner in its private equity and private investment funds practices. She advises on complex transactions in the secondary market. (GoodwinLaw.com)
• Perkins Coie brought in bank secrecy and anti-money laundering compliance officer Jim Vivenzio, who arrives from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency at the US Treasury Department, as senior counsel in its investment management practice and fintech industry group. (PerkinsCoie.com)
• Employer-side worklaw firm Fisher Phillips hired employment litigator Amy Kullik as a partner in Cleveland. She arrives after 23 years at Mansour Gavin, where she was litigation group chair. Fisher Phillips also hired employee benefits attorney Jennifer Kiesewetter as counsel in Nashville. (FisherPhillips.com)
• New York Stock Exchange-listed biomass producer Enviva promoted in-house attorney Jason Paral to senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary. He joined the company as assistant GC in 2015 from Vinson & Elkins, where he was a corporate transactions attorney advising on energy industry project finance. (Yahoo!)
• Insurance agency network Smart Choice promoted its vice president legal and compliance Brock Miles, a former IBM attorney, to general counsel and executive vice president. (Insurance Business America)

Technology

• Eying a 2024 initial public offering, legal tech company Exterro Inc. acquired e-discovery provider Zapproved. (Reuters)

Legal Education

• Two more law firms and Harvard Medical School have dropped out of US News rankings for schools. (Law.com)