Wake Up Call: White House Lawyer Sauber May Be Headed to Big Law

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

• White House special counsel Richard Sauber is expected to return to private practice in May. Before joining the Biden admnistration, Sauber was a partner with the litigation boutique Robbins Russell before the firm combined with Kramer Levin, and also previously worked as a partner with Fried Frank. (CNN)
• Nigel Blythe-Tinker, a former head of legal for the UK-founded gambling company William Hill, “plunged to his death” from his cabin balcony on the Seven Seas Mariner luxury cruise ship, a judge determined. Blythe-Tinker also had worked as chairman of Ladbrokes’ multibillion-pound parent company, GVC Holdings. (The Mirror)
• Thompson Coburn has opened a new office in Birmingham, Alabama, and filled it with three higher education practice partners, Tres Cleveland, Brandt Hill and Evan Moltz. Roger Swartzwelder has joined the firm in Washington. Each was previously a shareholder with Maynard Nexsen. (Thompson Coburn)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Nadira Clarke, Lily Chinn, and Anne Carpenter have joined Hogan Lovells as partners. They join from Baker Botts.
• Derek Smith, Jeremy Goldkind, and Joo Cha Webb have joined Venable as partners with the product liability and mass torts group from Steptoe.
• Michael Wilson has joined Sheppard Mullin as a partner in the corporate practice group in Chicago. He joins from Locke Lord.
• Victoria Shusterman has joined Kirkland & Ellis as a partner in the real estate practice group. She joins from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.
• Herb Allen has joined Honigman as a partner in the antitrust group within the litigation department in Washington, D.C. He joins from Polsinelli.
• Erin A. O’Brien has joined Cullen and Dykman as a partner in the corporate department.
• Daniel C. Wennogle and Nick R. Herrick have joined Lewis Roca as partners with the litigation practice group and construction industry group in Denver from Moye White.
• Daniel Shamah has joined Cooley as a partner with the business restructuring practice and global litigation department in New York. He joins from O’Melveny & Myers.
• Barney Smedley has joined Eversheds Sutherland as a partner. He joins from DLA Piper.