Wake Up Call: WWE Said to Replace K&L Gates Counsel in Antitrust Suit

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

• A team of Paul Weiss lawyers is reportedly set to take over defending World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. in an antitrust lawsuit filed by MLW Media LLC. WWE’s longtime outside counsel, K&L Gates partner Jerry McDevitt, said that after a judge last month rejected WWE’s motion to throw out the suit by MLW (Major League Wrestling), the case will likely stretch into at least 2025. So, McDevitt, who is planning to retire, and his team are handing the case over to Paul Weiss counsel able to “go the distance,” this report says. (Wrestlenomics)
• Baker McKenzie is the latest Big Law firm to give newly licensed junior lawyers a pay hike in London’s competitive talent market, boosting their salaries about 7% to 118,000 pounds ($150,125), according to a report. That puts Baker McKenzie’s junior lawyer pay ahead of DLA Piper’s 100,000 pounds, but behind Hogan Lovells, Allen & Overy and Linklaters, at 125,000 pounds. (The Lawyer)
• The Federal Trade Commission officially dropped its antitrust complaint against Altria Group Inc. after the big tobacco firm unloaded its stake in e-cigarette company Juul Labs Inc. (Corporate Counsel)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Big London-headquartered Holman Fenwick Willan said its global revenues rose over 13% to a record 225.3 million pounds ($287.66 million) in its latest fiscal year. (Law Society Gazette)
• Ousted Napoli Shkolnik partner Heather Palmore asked a judge to throw out the firm’s lawsuit accusing her of “quiet quitting.” (New York Law Journal)
• Management-side worklaw firm Littler Mendelson named shareholder Asha Santos as office managing shareholder for its Boston, Portland, Maine, and Providence, Rhode Island, offices. Santos succeeds shareholder Michael Mankes, who will focus on his full-time practice. (Littler.com)
• Holland & Hart named partner Phil Harris to lead the firm’s patent system practice group. (HollandHart.com)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• DLA Piper recruited former US Justice Department consumer protection trial attorney Perham Gorji, recently deputy chief counsel of litigation at the Food and Drug Administration, as partner in Washington. (DLAPiper.com)
• Goodwin Procter hired secondaries and private funds attorney Akin Krishna Skandakumar as partner in New York. In Paris, Goodwin hired Bird & Bird technology and life sciences partner Xavier Leroux as partner. He has experience advising on venture capital and private equity, leveraged buyouts, and M&A transactions. (GoodwinLaw.com)
• Stoel Rives snagged longtime Perkins Coie bankruptcy insolvency partner John Kaplan as partner in its corporate group in Seattle. (Stoel.com)
• Vedder Price picked up derivatives and capital markets attorney Todd Lurie as shareholder in Washington. He arrives from insurer and employee benefits giant MetLife, Inc., where he was associate general counsel, advising on global derivatives and structured credit. (VedderPrice.com)
• Seyfarth Shaw got back former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission senior counsel for artificial intelligence and algorithmic bias Rachel See, who was a Seyfarth associate earlier in her career. She returns as senior counsel and vice chair of its people analytics practice group in its labor and employment department. Lee served as board president for the National Center for Transgender Equality. (Seyfarth.com)
• Firearms manufacturer Sig Sauer Inc. hired Laurence Grayer, former top lawyer at global government services provider DynCorp International, as executive vice president, general counsel, and chief compliance officer. (SigSauer.com)

Promotions

• Effective July 1: Davis Polk & Wardwell promoted 12 attorneys to partner. (DavisPolk.com) Withers promoted 11 lawyers to partner across its locations in the US, Asia, and Europe. (LinkedIn.com) Debevoise & Plimpton promoted three attorneys to counsel and two to international counsel. (Debevoise.com)

Technology

• Legal tech providers are vying to offer new generative AI products to their lawyer clients. (Financial Times)