Wake Up Call: Telecom Law Group Postpones Events Over Virus

In today’s column, the Federal Communications Bar and other organizations announced cancellations and postponements to upcoming legal events due to the coronavirus outbreak; top lawyers from Microsoft and Amazon.com are participating in a fund aimed at helping their home state, Washington, deal with the outbreak; and six firms advise in Aon’s $30 billion insurance brokerage deal.

• The Federal Communications Bar Association said it is postponing and rescheduling its March events. (BLAW) The Securities and Exchange Commission postponed a March 10 event and said a March 11 open meeting will be available via webcast. (SEC.gov)

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection postponed a trade symposium and the U.N. Commission on International Trade Law postponed a March 30-April 2 meeting on investor-state dispute settlement reform. (UNCITRAL.un.org)

• Top lawyers from Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. are participating in a response fund, with other businesses and nonprofit organizations, aimed at helping their corporate home state of Washington face the Covid-19 outbreak. (Corporate Counsel)

• Several New York-based courts are either restricting access or closing. (New York Law Journal) Meanwhile, more law firms are mulling whether to work remotely. (American Lawyer) The Milan office of U.K. firm Simmons & Simmons is refusing entry to lawyers who arrive by public transport, a report says. (The Lawyer)

• Seyfarth Shaw is among several firms offering client resources on its coronavirus portal. (Seyfarth.com)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Aon Plc yesterday agreed to buy Willis Towers Watson Plc in an almost $30 billion deal, creating the world’s biggest insurance brokerage. (Bloomberg News via BLAW) Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Latham & Watkins; and Arthur Cox are advising Aon. Weil Gotshal & Manges; Skadden Arps; and Matheson advised Willis Towers Watson. (Law.com International via American Lawyer)
• California-based Fenwick & West’s “razor sharp” focus on technology and life sciences deals took it to its second consecutive year of revenue and profit increases in 2019. Its gross revenues reached $471.9 million, a 9.8% jump from the year before, while average profits per equity partner soared 19.2%, to $2.169 million. (American Lawyer)

• Nixon Peabody’s record-setting 2018, with $22 million in fees from a contingency case, proved a hard act to follow. In 2019, the firm’s gross revenue of $505.5 million was down 4.7% from the year before. Average PEP dropped 3.7%, to $1.447 million. (American Lawyer)

• After passing several financial milestones in 2018, Haynes and Boone had a very slow start to 2019, before picking up in the second half. Its gross revenues shrank 1%, compared with the previous year, to $404.3 million. Average PEP ticked up 0.6%, to stay slightly over $1 million. (Texas Lawyer)

• Former New York State superintendent of insurance Eric Dinallo, who was most recently top lawyer at Guardian Life Insurance Company, is returning to Debevoise & Plimpton as a partner and chair of its insurance regulatory practice. Dinallo, a former state assistant district attorney, spent seven years as a partner at Debevoise until 2017. He was also had executive roles at Morgan Stanley and Willis Group Holdings. (Debevoise.com)

• The Financial Times profiled Chicago aviation lawyer Bob Clifford, who is the lead attorney in more than a hundred cases representing survivors of people killed in the crash of a Boeing 737 Max, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. (Financial Times)

• Fish & Richardson’s new CEO and president, Minneapolis-based patent litigation principal John Adkisson, said he plans to work on increasing the intellectual property firm’s international reach, developing talent, and focusing on diversity. (StarTribune)

• Trial lawyers have been giving generously to the presidential campaign of Democratic hopeful and former VP Joe Biden. (Reason.com)

• Foley & Lardner said it has moved out of its “very standard” offices in San Diego, to a new, smaller and redesigned space in the city. (San Diego Business Journal)

Laterals, Moves, Launches

• Former Ropes & Gray litigation partner John Ertman and two former associates from that firm, litigators Caleb Dulis and Julian Helisek, have started litigation boutique Ertman, Dulis & Helisek, focused on the investment industry. It has offices in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. (BLAW)

• Latham & Watkins grabbed top private equity partners Neal Reenan and Ian Bushner from Kirkland & Ellis. They will be based out of Latham’s Boston and Chicago offices. (BLAW)

• DLA Piper said restructuring co-chair and partner Thomas R. Califano has taken over as sole chair of the practice. The firm also announced several other leadership appointments. (DLAPiper.com)

• Tax attorney and certified public accountant Kevin M. Jacobs, a former Internal Revenue Service senior technician reviewer in the agency’s chief counsel’s office, joined Alvarez & Marsal Taxand, LLC in Washington, as practice leader. He’s previously been at several Big Law firms and accounting firm Arthur Andersen. (AlvarezandMarsal.com)

• Locke Lord added Vedder Price tax lawyer Peter Wynacht as a partner in Chicago. He’s a former senior in-house lawyer at Chevron Corp., and advises on complex tax matters, especially across the private equity and venture capital industry. (LockeLord.com)

• Crowell & Moring’s new state attorneys general practice added Natalie Ludaway, former chief deputy attorney general for the District of Columbia. as a partner in Washington. (BLAW)

• Pryor Cashman added family law attorney Ronnie Schindel in New York as co-chair of its family law group. He arrives after 20 years at Aronson, Mayefsky & Sloan. (PryorCashman.com)

• Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck added employment practices liability lawyer Rashmee Sinha as a partner in its Woodbury, New York, headquarters. She was previously a New York City-based partner at Norris McLaughlin, P.A. (KDVLaw.com)

Technology

• Two legal tech companies cited coronavirus worries for postponements of conferences. (LawSites.blog)

Legal Education

• Stanford Law, Columbia Law, Fordham Law joined the list of law schools that have shifted all classes and exams online or closed down completely because of concerns over the spread of Covid-19. (Law.com)

• Harvard Law Professor Ronald Sullivan, whose representation of Harvey Weinstein cost Sullivan his faculty role at a Harvard residence, recently gave a continuing legal education talk on the pitfalls of representing unpopular clients. The event was held by the Kings County Criminal Bar Association. (BrooklynEagle.com)