Wake Up Call: Troutman Pepper Revenues Top $1B After Merger

In today’s column, Akin Gump is the last major international firm to get out of Russia; University of Chicago Law got a $15 million gift from a Carlyle Group co-founder; Goodwin and Meta are partnering on tech and IP law scholarships at historically black colleges.

• Leading off, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders had its first full year in 2021 after the pandemic-delayed the 2020 merger of Atlanta-based Troutman Sanders and Philadelphia-based Pepper Hamilton into a 1,121-lawyer firm. The firm’s transactional work helped drive revenues up 12.1% to $1.029 billion. Its profits per equity partner rose 11.2% to 1.39 million. (Legal Intelligencer)
• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is among the last big international firms to exit Russia with the closing of its Moscow office. (American Lawyer) Covington & Burling, on behalf of Ukraine, won a ruling from the International Court of Justice ordering Russia to “immediately suspend the military operations” in Ukraine. (United Nations)
• Transatlantic giant DLA Piper matched the Cravath pay scale for associates, which goes up to $415,000 for the most senior associates. Mintz, Morrison & Foerster, and WilmerHale also matched. (Above The Law) Recruiters and law consultants say the weight of that soaring compensation could induce Big Law firms to lay off associates if their booming demand reverses in 2022. (American Lawyer) Meanwhile, some counsel are getting angry that they haven’t gotten raises. (American Lawyer)
• A survey finds two-thirds of in-house lawyers don’t want to go back to the office full time. (Law.com International)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Kansas City-founded Husch Blackwell’s booming renewable energy practice, a rebound in real estate work, and several new offices and its virtual office “The Link” pushed gross revenues up 14.3% to $476.7 million. Its average PEP expanded 9.3% to $846,000. (American Lawyer)
• Atlanta-based Morris, Manning & Martin’s gross revenues grew 9.7% to $167.7 million. Its average PEP shrank by 0.7% to $1.4 million. (Daily Report)
• Former Vinson & Elkins partner Griff Aldrich is now head coach of Longwood University’s men’s basketball team in Farmville, Virginia, which is a 14th seed in the NCAA men’s tournament in Indianapolis. (Associated Press)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Sheppard Mullin recruited Fried Frank capital markets attorney Edward Welch as a corporate and securities partner in New York; Goodwin Procter brought in complex litigation and disputes resolution partner Jonathan Shapiro in San Francisco. He joins from Baker Botts, where he chaired the California litigation department; Greenberg Traurig added government contracts attorney Jeff Chiow as a shareholder in Washington. A former U.S. Marines flight officer, he was recently at Rogers, Joseph, O’Donell, where he was co-chair of the government contracts practice; Polsinelli hired tax credit attorney Shawn Whitney as a shareholder in Miami and head of its tax credit practice in its real estate and financial services department. He arrives with real estate attorney Emily K. Wehr from Spencer Fane. (Polsinelli)
• ArentFox Schiff added private equity and venture capital attorney Gabriela Palmieri as of counsel in New York. She’s a former Big Law attorney and was recently at private equity firm C&C Alpha Group as vice president of business development and general counsel; Barnes & Thornburg picked up Reed Smith insurance recovery attorney Alice Kyureghian as a partner in Los Angeles; Womble Bond Dickinson recruited patent litigation partner Rodney R. Miller in Atlanta. A Big Law veteran, he joins recently from Hall Booth Smith, P.C., where he co-chaired the intellectual property practice group; Nissan North America, Inc., promoted in-house attorney Jason Menges to vice president and general counsel, legal, North America. (Businesswire)

Legal Education

• The University of Chicago Law received a new $15 million gift from David M. Rubenstein, a 1973 graduate of the school who is co-founder and co-chairman of private equity giant The Carlyle Group. The gift brings Rubenstein’s total support for the David M. Rubenstein Scholars Program to $61 million. (Law.uChicago.edu) Goodwin said it is partnering with Meta on a new scholarship program for students from historically black colleges and universities planning to pursue a career in intellectual property or technology law. (GoodwinLaw.com)