Wake Up Call: UK Class Actions Plunge After 2023 Paccar Ruling

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

• UK law firms and litigation funders are warning that access to justice is being curtailed as new class action filings plummet following the Supreme Court’s 2023 Paccar ruling, which barred funders from taking a share of damages in antitrust cases. Only three collective proceedings have been filed this year, down sharply from previous years, as investors retreat amid disappointing financial returns and greater caution following major cases such as the £200 million Mastercard settlement. (Financial Times)
• An Indian lawyer tried to hurl a shoe at India’s Chief Justice B.R. Gavai in the Supreme Court over recent remarks he made about the Hindu god Vishnu. Gavai reportedly said in separate court proceedings that a man filing a plea seeking the replacement of a damaged statue of the god should “go and ask the deity himself to do something,” and the court rejected the plea. (NBC News)
• Immigration lawyer Joseph Molina Flynn was suspended by the Rhode Island Supreme Court after his offices were raided by the FBI earlier this year. The order cites “an immediate need to protect the public from the Respondent-Attorney’s further misuse of client funds.” The court’s chief disciplinary counsel filed a complaint against Molina Flynn in May, contending that he “performed little or no services, neglected client files, misappropriated client funds, co-mingled client funds” and was uncooperative and untruthful during an investigation. (The Providence Journal)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Avy Mallik joined Morrison Foerster as a partner in its financial services group in San Francisco. He joins from the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.
• Erica Ross joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a partner in its litigation department in Washington.
• Hall Provence IV joined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough as a corporate partner.
• Matt Leopold joined Holland & Knight as a partner and co-chair of its national environment team in Washington. He joins from Hunton Andrews Kurth.
• Rosemarie Ring was appointed deputy general counsel for litigation and patents at Walt Disney Company. She joins from Gibson Dunn.
• Rachel Nudel joined Hinshaw & Culbertson as a partner in its defense litigation practice. She joins from Marshall, Conway, Bradley & Gollub.
• Kevin Harkins joined Frost Brown Todd as a partner in its product, tort and insurance litigation practice group in Pittsburgh. He joins from Dentons.