Wake Up Call: Trade Wars Are Boosting Law Firm Demand, For Now

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

• Law firms had a slow start this year, but President Donald Trump’s global trade war fueled surging demand that helped prop up their first quarter, according to the Thomson Reuters Institute. Litigation and transactional work experienced “significant spikes” late in the quarter, but boosts may be short-lived as the trade war poses a “direct threat” to firms’ economic prospects in the second half of 2025. (Reuters)
• A Michigan lawyer was reprimanded in federal court for using his firm’s watermark—a purple cartoon dragon—in his court filings. Jacob Perrone, head of law firm Dragon Lawyers, agreed to remove the images from his filings before Judge Ray Kent, but said he would keep the dragon as a marketing mascot for the firm. (Vice)
• Sybil Shainwald, a lawyer who represented women whose health had been harmed by poorly tested drugs and medical devices, died last month at 96. Shainwald’s landmark case against Eli Lilly in the 1970s helped establish manufacturer liability for DES-related injuries and paved the way for thousands of similar lawsuits. (The New York Times)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Jason Kropp and Craig Hilts joined Sidley Austin as partners in its emerging companies and venture capital practice in Boston. They join from WilmerHale.
• Mary Marks joined Sidley Austin as a partner in its antitrust and competition practice in New York. She joins from Davis Polk & Wardwell.
• Casey Bell joined Troutman Pepper Locke as a partner in its energy regulatory practice group in Austin. He joins from Duggins Wren Mann & Romero.
• Craig Garvey joined McDermott Will & Emery as a partner in its transactions practice group in Chicago. He joins from Kirkland & Ellis.
• Reuven Falik joined Clifford Chance as a partner in its US tax, pensions, and employment group.
• Georg Weidenbach joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a partner in its antitrust practice in Germany. He joins from Gibson Dunn.
• Alexandra de Padua and Frank Oliver joined Proskauer Rose as partners in its global finance practice in New York.
• Scott Nehs joined VSP Vision as chief legal officer and general counsel. He joins from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
• Ryan Park joined McGuireWoods as a partner in its national litigation and appellate practices in Raleigh, N.C. He was previously North Carolina solicitor general.
• Charles Wahtola, III joined Venable as a partner in its construction law group in Chicago.
• Kenneth Goldstein joined Honigman as a partner in its private client practice group and corporate department in Chicago. He joins from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.
• Mary Helen Wimberly joined Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider as a partner in its antitrust practice in Washington. She joins from the Justice Department.
• Jeffrey Hardin Lewis joined Cozen O’Connor as a member in its transportation and trade group in Washington. He joins from the Transportation Department.
• Nick Buehner rejoined Vinson & Elkins as a partner in its real estate practice in Dallas. He joins from Trammell Crow Company.
• Allen Dickerson joined BakerHostetler as a partner in its litigation practice group in Washington. He joins from the Federal Election Commission.