Wake Up Call: U.K. Lawyers Balk at Office Returns, Poll Finds

In today’s column, Dykema said its latest survey of M&A professionals found the most positive outlook in the poll’s 17-year history; Perkins Coie is moving to new offices in Chicago; a plaintiffs firm says its homegrown Salesforce-based practice management software has fueled huge growth at the firm.

• Leading off, a recent informal poll of 30 senior U.K. lawyers found office attendance under 50% for most of their firms, several months after the country’s lockdown restrictions eased. Attendance jumps to around 80% for Kirkland & Ellis and 70% for Slaughter and May, this report said. (UK Legal Week) Another recent poll found Manhattan law firms’ in-office attendance averaging just 27%, but with a surge in view for January. (BLAW) Some South Florida law firms are still allowing lawyers that have high demand to work in-office two or three days a week and still keep their desks. But that might not last. (Daily Business Review)
• Dykema said 75% of respondents to its latest annual survey of M&A deal-related professionals expect the U.S. M&A market to strengthen in the next 12 months, while only 7 percent expect it to weaken. (Dykema)
• Speaking of deals, three firms advised on American Tower Corp.’s agreement to buy data-center real estate investment trust CoreSite Realty Corp. in a deal valued at about $10.1 billion including debt. Cleary Gottlieb was American Tower’s main legal adviser, while Wachtell advised Coresite on the transaction, expected to close by year’s end. Davis Polk said it is advising J.P. Morgan as financial adviser to American Tower Corporation. (Businesswire)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Seattle-headquartered Perkins Coie said its 250-plus lawyers and staff in Chicago are moving to new, modern offices on three floors of a landmark skyscraper. (Perkinscoie.com)
• Several Big Law firms are promoting record numbers of associates to partnership, but they won’t all be equity partners. (ABA Journal)
• A man dared a Washington federal judge in a virtual hearing to hold him in contempt and got his wish. (National Law Journal)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher poached a three-partner team from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Washington for its new global tax controversy and litigation practice group. Leading the team, former Justice Department trial attorney Sanford Stark will serve as the group’s co-chair with current co-chair and former IRS Chief Counsel Michael Desmond who joined Gibson Dunn earlier this year. Partners Saul Mezei and C. Terrell Ussing arrive with Stark; Dechert picked up Schulte Roth & Zabel private equity, M&A and tax partner David Passey in New York; Gibson Dunn also grabbed Proskauer Rose labor and employment lawyer Danielle Moss as a partner in New York; Latham & Watkins recruited corporate and mergers & acquisitions lawyer Todd Gleason as a partner in Boston. He arrives after close to 18 years at Hinckley Allen. (PRNewswire)
• Kirkland & Ellis hired environmental, social and governance lawyer Paul Barker as a partner in San Francisco. He arrives after six years at London-based firm Doughty Street Chambers, where he was a barrister focused on international arbitration; Cozen O’Connor hired veteran zoning & land-use attorney G. Evan Pritchard lawyer as a member in its real estate practice in Washington. He’s a former DOJ trial attorney and arrives from Venable where he was a partner; Debevoise & Plimpton hired former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission supervisory trial counsel Stephan Schlegelmilch as white collar counsel in Washington. (Debevoise.com)
• DLA Piper poached patent prosecutor William Mulholland, the co-chair of Snell & Wilmer’s life sciences and medical technology group, as a partner in Phoenix; Lathrop GPM brought in litigators Pat Fanning, Kristi Burmeister, and J. Aaron Craig as partners in Kansas City, Mo. They arrive from PEAK Litigation LLP and earlier practiced together at Shook, Hardy & Bacon; Jobcase, a social platform for workers, hired tech company in-house veteran Kathleen Patton as its general counsel. According to her LinkedIn profile, she’s a former McDermott, Will & Emery corporate partner and was top lawyer at CarGurus and Salesforce company Demandware. (PRNewswire)

Technology

• Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan said the plaintiff firm’s practice management software Litify, built on Salesforce, has helped fuel 500% growth at the firm in five years and hundreds of rival firms are using it, too. (National Law Journal)