Wake Up Call: Varallo Defeats Cravath in Musk Pay Package Suit

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

• Greg Varallo with Bernstein Litowiz Berger & Grossmann defeated at team of lawyers led by Cravath, Swaine & Moore in “the case that brought down Elon Musk’s multibillion-dollar pay package at Tesla.” Varallo, who has spent decades representing companies like Goldman Sachs and 21st Century Fox, used to play drums in a heavy metal band. (Wall Street Journal)
• The general counsel of tobacco giant Altria Group, Murray Garnick, will be retiring effective April 1, after having served seven years in the role. He’ll be replaced by associate general counsel Robert “Bob” McCarter. (Law.com)
• Law, marketing research, and financial services are the fields most likely to be affected by generative AI, in coming transformations that “are likely to be as unfamiliar as they are profound,” a study released Thursday by SHRM and the Burning Glass Institute finds. Software developers, business analysts, and lawyers will be among those most affected by GenAI. (New York Times/SHRM)
• NRA General Counsel John Frazer testified Tuesday that he got his position less than two years after becoming a lawyer, and has been left out of “key” decision-making within the organization. Frazer’s testimony comes as the New York Attorney General’s office tries to show that the NRA has been “plagued” by poor internal controls. (The Reload)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Ira Kustin has rejoined Akin as a partner in its investment management practice in the New York office. He joins from Paul Hastings.
• Dan Schuster-Woldan will join Paul Weiss as a public M&A partner with the corporate department in London.
• Philipp Schäuble has joined Morgan Lewis as a partner with the global labor and employment practice in Munich, Germany. He joins from McDermott.
• Luis Fortuño has joined Reed Smith as a partner in the regulatory and investigations practice in Washington, D.C., and Juliya Arbisman has joined the global commercial disputes group in New York. They both join from Steptoe.
• Thomas Rea has joined Thompson Coburn as part of the white collar defense and business litigation practice in St. Louis, Mo.
• Valerie G. Henderson has been named the managing shareholder of the Houston office of Baker Donelson.
• Scott Nelson has joined Baker Botts as a partner in the litigation department in Houston, Texas. He joins from Hunton Andrews Kurth.
• Michael A. Fernández has joined Cozen O’Connor as a member of its commercial litigation group in New York. He joins from Rivero Mestre LLP.
• Sunni P. Beville has joined Otterbourg P.C. as a partner in the restructuring and bankruptcy department and as a co-leader of the mass torts bankruptcy practice group. She joins from Brown Rudnick.
• Amanda Afton Martin has joined Kemp Klein as a shareholder who will be involved in the estate planning, real estate, probate and trust administration, business planning, and tax planning practice groups.
• Fisher Phillips has acquired Blue Pencil Box, a legal technology company, and added the founder Jonathan Crook as a partner.
• Monica Call and Ruben Diaz have been named managing partners of Foley & Lardner‘s Salt Lake City and Miami offices, respectively.
• Danny Worker has joined Clyde & Co as a partner in the Chicago office. He joins from Lewis Brisbois.
• Lauren Winter has joined White & Case as a partner in the global debt finance practice in London. She joins from Shearman & Sterling.
• Jackson Hwu has joined Dentons LLP with the venture technology and emerging growth companies practice in Miami.
• Christine Wilson has joined Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as a senior advisor with the antitrust practice in Washington, D.C.
• Donna Byrne has joined Troutman Pepper as a partner in the energy practice group in Washington, D.C. She previously practiced at Steptoe.
• Vernessa Pollard has joined DLA Piper as a partner and co-chair of the FDA practice in Washington, D.C.
• Elevate has reached a five-year agreement with Ashurst to build and operate the Ashurst Advance Global Delivery Centre in Krakow, Poland.