Wake Up Call: Texas Firms Notch Record $8.6 Billion Revenues

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

• Strong demand helped Texas law firms post a record $8.6 billion in revenues in 2022, up 7.6% from the previous year. Thirty-five of the top 50 firms in the state posted record revenues, aTexas Law Book report says. Kirkland & Ellis stayed at No. 1 ahead of Houston-based Vinson & Elkins. (Houston Chronicle)
• Big UK-based insurance specialist firm Clyde & Co. introduced a new global policy that allows lawyers and other employees to get 26 weeks of fully paid parental leave, provided they have worked at the firm for at least a year. Ashurst has a similar policy. (Roll On Friday)
• O’Melveny & Myers, led by Korea corporate practice head Daniel Kim, advised Samsung Display Co., Ltd. on its agreement to acquire eMagin Corp., a US-based maker of OLED microdisplays, for around $218 million. White & Case, led by partners Ross Sturman and John Reiss, and Goodwin Procter, led by partners Jocelyn Arel and Mike Patrone, are counseling eMagin. (GlobeNewswire)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission and Covington & Burling said they have failed to resolve their dispute over the SEC’s attempt to subpoena the names of 298 publicly traded Covington clients affected by a data breach at the firm. (National Law Journal)
• The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced that deputy US Attorney Margaret Garnett, a former Wachtell Lipton litigator whom President Biden is considering for a judgeship in the district, has moved to the role of special counsel. Chief counsel to the US Attorney Andrea Griswold, a former Simpson Thacher attorney, has taken the role of deputy US attorney. (Justice.gov)
• M&A deal terms in US and European markets are generally evolving to more favor sellers, but there’s scant evidence the two markets are converging, according to DLA Piper’s latest M&A intelligence report. (DLAPiper.com)
• Material adverse change clauses, relating to political environment, international disasters, the economy, and other factors, have become a permanent fixture for managing M&A deal risks, observes a new Nixon Peabody survey report. (NixonPeabody.com)
• Financial services company LPL Financial LLC said Mintz PC is the first winner of its outside counsel award for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the financial services sector. LPL said it created the award in partnership with the American Bar Association. (Globe Newswire)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Katten Muchin Rosenman said longtime partner Wendy Cohen, co-chair of its investment management and funds practice, will be the new managing partner of its New York office, effective June 1. She takes over from structured finance and securitizations partner Chris DiAngelo, who’s led the office for a decade. (Katten.com)
• Baker McKenzie hired Caracas, Venezuela-based tax attorney Serviliano Abache Carvajal as partner. He was recently running his own boutique firm. (BakerMcKenzie.com)
• Legaltech provider Transperfect Legal Solutions hired former Allen & Overy antitrust attorney Stefan Nigam as London-based director of consulting and information governance for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. He was recently in-house at Kambi, a sports-betting tech provider. (Transperfect.com)
• Scharf Banks Marmor promoted employment counseling and litigation attorney Susan Rider to partner. A former WilmerHale associate, Rider joined Scharf Banks last year from utility company Exelon Corporation, where she was vice president and deputy general counsel, employment and benefits. (ScharfBanks.com)
• The nonprofit New York Lawyers for the Public Interest named senior staff attorney Marinda van Dalen to the new role of litigation director. (NYLPI.org)

Technology

• Intellectual property infringement and cyber fraud are among ChatGPT-related risks that organizations’ legal and compliance leaders will have to stay on top of, according to Gartner. (Gartner.com)