Wake Up Call: London Lawyer Pay Explosion ‘Not Sustainable’

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

• The surge in lawyer pay in London’s legal market is unsustainable, according to Jeremy Hoyland, managing partner at Simmons & Simmons. Salaries for both partners and junior lawyers have skyrocketed, driven by US firms and private equity work. While profits have soared, Hoyland warns this growth can’t last, as the industry faces intense competition and increasing pressure on staff. (FN London)
• Womble Bond Dickinson will be the first major law firm in the UK to roll out AI product CoCounsel across its entire workforce. The tool assists lawyers with research, document review and analysis, and correspondence drafting. Other firms, such as Addleshaw Goddard and Linklaters have similarly tested CoCounsel, but have not yet made it available firmwide. (Law.com)
• Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer Baratz is expanding its West Coast presence by merging with Vierra Magen Marcus, a boutique intellectual property firm. The merger adds four new partners along with a team of attorneys and paralegals. Following the merger, Pearl Cohen will have around 250 attorneys and patent agents across its offices in Tel Aviv, New York, Boston, San Francisco, and London. (Globes)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Doug Emhoff, the former second gentleman, joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a partner in Los Angeles and New York.
• Kemal Hawa joined Kirkland & Ellis as a partner in its corporate practice group. He joins from Greenberg Traurig.
• Stephen Gill joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as a partner in its corporate practice in Houston.
• Paul Johnson and Dasha Sobornova joined Morgan Lewis as partners. Johnson joins from Baker McKenzie. Sobornova joins from Akin.
• Richard Hong joined Dentons as a partner in its commercial litigation practice.
• Ahmed Butt rejoined Dentons as a partner in its Middle East banking and finance practice. He joins from EY.
• Neil MacBride rejoined Davis Polk as a partner in its white collar defense and investigations practice. He joins from the Treasury Department.
• Evan Kelson joined Holland & Knight as a partner in its financial services team in New York. He joins from Mayer Brown.
• David Slotkin joined Proskauer Rose as a partner in its real assets group.
• Anthony Shannon joined Perkins Coie as its chief people officer. He joins from Kobre & Kim.
• Philip Prowse and Jameel Tarmohamed joined Squire Patton Boggs as partners in its financial services practice group in London. They join from Stephenson Harwood.
• Michael Stark joined Faegre Drinker as a partner in its product liability and mass torts group and food litigation and regulatory practices. He joins from Smithfield Foods, where he was deputy general counsel.
• Gina Gunning joined ARRAY Technologies as chief legal officer and corporate secretary. She joins from GrafTech International, where she was chief legal officer and corporate secretary.
• Jeremy Anderson joined BakerHostetler as a partner in its litigation practice group and commercial litigation team in Wilmington, Del.
• Tal Diamant joined Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner as a partner in its real estate practice. He joins from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.
• Helen Foley joined Duane Morris as a partner in its employment, labor, benefits, and immigration practice group in London. She joins from PwC.
• Luis Torres joined Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo as a member in its energy and sustainability practice.
• Andrew Wong joined ArentFox Schiff as a partner in its complex litigation practice in Los Angeles. He joins from Reed Smith.
• Gillian Kessler joined Loeb & Loeb as a partner in its real estate department in New York. She joins from Morrison Cohen.
• Michael Educate joined Thompson Coburn as a partner in its business litigation practice group in Chicago. He joins from Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg.