Wake Up Call: White & Case Said to Rep Sanctioned Russian

In today’s column, Paul Weiss poached a private funds/asset management partner from Kirkland; so far this year law firm mergers are down from 2021 and their historical average, a report says; under Katten’s new “flexible” office-return plan, the firm’s practice and department heads will decide when to bring people back into the officer.

• Leading off, a White & Case attorney is representing an associate of President Vladimir Putin who has been sanctioned by the U.S. since 2018 in a New York Supreme Court case, according to a report. A White & Case spokesman said in a Monday email that the law firm “is in the process of withdrawing from our representation of this client.” Despite pressure to stop working for sanctioned Russians, some Big Law firms are still taking such work. (New York Law Journal)
• Companies forced to withdraw or suspend operations in Russia may, in some cases, be able to get relief from insurance or international arbitration. (Reuters via Insurance Journal)
• Although several law firms are discussing tie-ups, actual law firm mergers are off to a “surprisingly quiet” start in 2022 and down from their historical average, according to a report. (American Lawyer)
• After two years of remote work because of the pandemic, Katten Muchin Rosenman is launching a flexible plan that tries to balance flexibility and the benefits of in-person collaboration. (American Lawyer)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Twitter chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde’s total compensation jumped 132% in 2021, to $17 million. That includes her $600,000 salary plus a $15.5 million stock award. (Corporate Counsel)
• Hundreds of New York City prosecutors are leaving their jobs. (New York Times)
• The 59 securities class action lawsuits filed against life sciences companies in 2021 were down 17.5% from 2020 but up close to 20% from five years before, a Dechert report says. (Dechert)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Paul Weiss grabbed private funds/asset management partner Aaron Schlaphoff in New York from Kirkland & Ellis. Schlaphoff, a former SEC attorney fellow, arrives on the heels of former Kirkland partner Megan Spelman, who moved to Paul Weiss last month; Orrick in London landed Jenner & Block cybersecurity and data privacy attorney Kelly Hagedorn as a partner. Previously seconded to the U.K. Serious Fraud Office, Hagedorn has experience advising clients on privacy enforcement aspects of white collar investigations and international disputes involving major fraud allegations; also in London, Visa’s European head of commercial contract management, Peggy Pauwels, is moving to the legal arm of Big Four accounting firm Deloitte as a partner, according to a report. (Artificial Lawyer)
• Quinn Emanuel litigation partner Paul D. Evans, a former government attorney in Western Australia, jumped to HFW as a partner in Perth, Australia; Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck added real estate partner Jaimie Bombard in San Francisco; McGuireWoods and its consulting arm hired economic development lawyer W. Ford Graham in Columbia, South Carolina, as a partner and senior member of its infrastructure and economic development team. He was previously a partner at K&L Gates and also served as director of international strategy and trade for the South Carolina Department of Commerce; transatlantic firm Womble Bond Dickinson grabbed two financial services and capital markets attorneys in Washington. Laura Hoag, as a partner, and Joseph Ricotta, as of counsel, both joined from Squire Patton Boggs’s Cleveland office. (Womble Bond Dickinson)
• New Jersey-headquartered Bressler, Amery & Ross opened an office in Austin, Texas, to be led by its new asset management and financial institutions principal Ronak Patel. Patel, a former Texas State Securities Board deputy commissioner arrived in January from Winstead, where he was a shareholder; Hogan Lovells named Washington-based partner Aaron Cutler to lead the firm’s government relations and public affairs practice. He replaced partner Ivan Zapien, who’d held the role since 2020 and continues his practice at the firm. (HoganLovells.com)