Wake Up Call: Trump Picks Ex-Jones Day Partner as U.S. Attorney for D.C.

In today’s column, the “second hundred” biggest U.S. law firms kept pace with the top 100 firms in terms of financial growth, which might provide them a lift as they face the current crisis; more states are moving toward holding their bar exams online because of the Covid-19 pandemic; A U.K. court held England’s first trial via Zoom; Wachtell founding partner Martin Lipton is warning of a wave of Covid-19 litigation; President Trump’s daughter Tiffany graduated from Georgetown Law.

• Leading off, President Donald Trump yesterday said he plans to pick ex-Jones Day partner Justin Herdman to take over as head of the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, which has been hit by several recent controversies. Once confirmed by the Senate, Herdman, the U.S. attorney in Cleveland, would take over from Timothy Shea, a former Morgan, Lewis & Bockius principal who’s had a rough ride since he took the job on interim basis since February. (WaPo)

• Michigan is the latest in a growing number of states that have decided to hold their upcoming bar exams online because of the pandemic. (BLAW)

• The American Bar Association’s Council of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar took another step toward being able to waive limits on distance education during the Covid-19 outbreak. (Law.com)

• Wachtell founding partner Martin Lipton is warning of a coming wave of coronavirus fueled lawsuits, as workers sue for harm on the job, and companies go to court over their so-called business-interruption insurance policies, among other matters. (Bloomberg News via BLAW)

• New York lifted a ban on non-essential lawsuits for courts in about two dozen upstate New York counties. The courts this week began accepting new lawsuits previously barred under filing restrictions triggered by the virus. (New York Law Journal)

• England’s Technology and Construction Court completed the first-ever entirely remote trial in English legal history, via video-conferencing platform Zoom. (PBCtoday.co.uk) (ArtificialLawyer.com)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• For the first time in several years, the “second hundred” biggest U.S. law firms in 2019 kept up with the top 100 firms in terms of growth in gross revenue, profits per partner, and revenue per lawyer, according to latest Am Law 200 report. That second-tier’s momentum could help those firms face the tough economics of Covid-19, it said. (American Lawyer)

• One AM Law 200 firm, Kansas City, Missouri-based Stinson, last week named deputy managing partner Allison Murdock to become its first ever female managing partner when she takes over from current leader Mark Hinderks on July 1, 2021. (American Lawyer)

• As young law graduates and associates digest the “new economic reality” of law firms, the idea of starting a legal technology company is becoming more attractive than ever. But people who’ve already taken that plunge say success is not a given. (Legaltech News)

• After losing dozens of lawyers recently, Los Angeles-based intellectual property boutique Irell & Manella is trying to redefine itself. (American Lawyer)

• The podcast “Rainmaker,” hosted by litigation finance startup Legalist, features 12- to 20-minute interviews with top litigators on how they made partner. The latest is with McGuireWoods partner Matthew Fender. (Podcasts.Apple.com)

• Covington & Burling beat a federal lawsuit by a black former security officer who accused the firm of firing him in retaliation for complaining about race discrimination, not for a physical dust-up with his boss. (BLAW)

• Fox Rothschild got a former administrative assistant’s sexual harassment lawsuit against the firm and a former partner moved from New York City to a New Jersey federal court. (BLAW)

• Skadden, Arps advised Coty Inc. on the cosmetics company’s $4.3 billion deal to sell the Wella and Clairol brands to buyout firm KKR & Co., advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. (Bloomberg News) (Global Legal Chronicle)

• Wigdor lawyers for Tara Reade have sent a “cease and desist” letter to an outspoken critic of Reade, who accuses Joe Biden of a sex assault decades ago, a report says. (Politico)

• Attorney Albert Krieger, known for defending New York crime family boss John Gotti and other famous clients, died last week at age 96 in Miami. (Miami Herald)

• Wilkie Farr & Gallagher’s Paris office advised French container and shipping company CMA CGM in connection with its 1.05 billion euro ($1.115 billion) loan arranged by BNP Paribas, HSBC, and Société Générale. The loan is part of the government’s state-guaranteed loan scheme established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (NYT)

Pro Bono

• New Jersey-based Bressler, Amery & Ross named litigation principal Evan Yablonsky chair of its pro bono committee. (Bressler.com)

Laterals, Moves

• Global law firm network Lex Mundi elected board member Michelle Liberman, a partner in Israeli firm S. Horowitz & Co, to be its new chair, according to a report. She’ll replace outgoing chair Ben Haglund, who’s a partner at Day Pitney. (GlobalLegalPost.com)

• Alternative dispute resolution services provider JAMS said its New York panel added business mediator and dispute resolution professional Peter Kamminga, who among other things is a Harvard Law faculty member. (JAMSadr.com)

Technology

• Facebook Inc. lost a bid for a U.S. Supreme Court review of a 2019 contempt order against the company for failing to turn over user communications subpoenaed by criminal defendants. (BLAW)

• A new class action alleges that blockchain software company Block.one violated U.S. securities laws with its $4 billion-plus initial coin offering in 2017 for EOS tokens that turned out to be worthless. A release says Grant & Eisenhofer and others filed the suit in a New York federal court on behalf of individual and corporate investors. (Cointelegraph.com)

Legal Education

• Recent comments about eDiscovery by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in a historic case about Trump’s financial records demonstrate that judges still don’t know much about eDiscovery, a report says. (Legaltech News)

• President Trump’s daughter, Tiffany, has graduated from Georgetown Law School. (People)