“Slone Partners, a nationwide executive search firm for life science, biotechnology, and diagnostics companies, has announced the placement of Stephana Patton, Ph.D., J.D. as Chief Legal Officer (CLO) at InterVenn Biosciences,” posted Slone Partners on their Latest News.

“Patton brings more than 20 years of legal experience to InterVenn. She most recently served as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Compliance Officer at Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for all legal and compliance matters. Previously, Patton served as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Compliance Officer at BioTime, Inc., and as Vice President, General Counsel, and Commercial Compliance Officer at BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. Patton began her pharmaceutical industry career at Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where she was Vice President of Intellectual Property and Licensing until the company was acquired by Valeant, Inc. in 2015.

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“A deluge of corporate work without enough associates to staff it has sent cash flush Big Law hunting for hires in smaller markets, a dynamic that could threaten regional law firms in the long run,” reports Meghan Tribe in Bloomberg Law’s Business & Practice.

“The nation’s largest law firms have thrived in spite of Covid-19, especially corporate practices, like M&A, where demand surged 7.8% in the first quarter of 2021 over the same period last year, according to a recently released report by Thomson Reuters. All that work has made this year’s hiring market for corporate associates the hottest in recent memory.”

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“Cooley has launched in Chicago, uniting an array of preeminent Chicago-based lawyers from three major law firms. For the first time, an elite Silicon Valley law firm is opening an office to serve the thriving Midwest ecosystem, home to high-growth, disruptive companies, a burgeoning venture capital community, and some of the largest and most sophisticated companies, including many of the most recognizable tech and life sciences brands in the nation. The addition of this group of top legal talent to Cooley’s unique platform, which is widely recognized as a leader in venture capital financings, M&A, IPOs and fund formations in the new economy, brings an unmatched combination of prowess and scale to the market,” posted Cooley in their News.

“The 10-partner launch team – including nine lateral partner arrivals from DLA Piper, Latham & Watkins and Winston & Strawn – creates Cooley’s 17th office worldwide and allows Cooley to attract additional prestigious legal talent in building a full-service Chicago office, including a bench of elite litigators expected to join in the next few months. This high-profile group embodies Cooley’s entrepreneurial brand and ethos, which is focused on providing deep counsel to companies and investors from startup to IPO and beyond. By partnering with market leaders and visionaries, Cooley will continue to foster innovation and exceptional growth of new-economy companies in Chicago and the Midwest.”

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“Associate compensation is once again a hot topic in the highest echelons of the legal profession, and young lawyers at some firms are finally reaping the benefits of the 2018 salary hike that brought starting salaries to $190,000. By the time this wave of salary increases is over, we may finally see a somewhat uniform salary scale across the majority of large law firms, all across the country,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“The firm announcing salary increases this time around is Holland & Knight, ranked 38th on the Am Law 100 with $1,044,337,000 in 2020 gross revenue. The firm has been in the news recently for its potential merger with Thompson & Knight, but now, the firm is making news by offering lockstep salaries in each and every one of its U.S. offices.”

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“Top law firms are building out practice groups focused on state attorneys general, whose aggressive moves on everything from workers’ rights to Big Tech have clients looking for lawyers with a deep understanding of the process,” reports Ellen M. Gilmer in Bloomberg Law’s Environment and Energy.

“The latest entrant is DLA Piper, which unveiled its new practice Tuesday, led by veterans of the New York and California state attorneys general offices. Other big firms with similar practices include Jones Day, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, and Crowell & Moring LLP.”

“Companies face scrutiny from state attorneys general on all sides. Democratic-led offices are set to team up with the Biden administration on complex investigations and, in some cases, have been granted broader jurisdiction. Republican-led offices are taking aim at Big Tech.”

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“Shad Sumrow, who practiced at Thompson & Knight for more than two decades and led its firmwide finance group, is taking his practice to fellow Texas firm Baker Botts,” reports David Thomas in Reuters’ US Legal News.

“He joins Baker Botts as a partner in Dallas, the firm said Tuesday, touting his work on oil and gas and asset-based lending and structured finance transactions as well as restructurings. The firm noted that it added Doug Getten, the former chair of Paul Hastings’ Houston corporate department, as a partner last week.”

“Sumrow’s departure from Thompson & Knight comes a little more than a month after the firm and Miami-based Holland & Knight said that they were in talks to merge later this summer.”

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“Holland & Knight has bolstered its data strategy, security and privacy team with Hilary Lane, a partner who has longtime experience both at law firms and in-house at Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal,” reports Sara Merken in Reuters.

“Lane jumps to Miami-based Holland & Knight from Quarles & Brady, which she joined about a year ago.”

“Holland & Knight has more than 1,400 lawyers and professionals in 27 offices. The firm last month announced merger discussions with Dallas-based Thompson & Knight, a deal which would give it 275 additional lawyers and three new locations.”

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“Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is hiring Brock Dahl, a former deputy general counsel at the National Security Agency, as the U.K-founded firm that opened in Silicon Valley last year continues to bolster its technology practice,” reports Roy Strom in Bloomberg Law’s US Law Week.

“Dahl will serve as counsel at Freshfields, working out of Washington and Silicon Valley. He said in an interview he anticipates advising clients on issues including cross-border data transfers, data breach incidents, shifting ad-tech policies, and emerging areas such as a new subpoena power being wielded by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.”

“Freshfields is the latest Big Law firm to grow its cybersecurity and data privacy practice, an area in high demand with cyberattacks on the rise and new data regulations being proposed and implemented at a rapid clip by U.S. states and foreign jurisdictions.”

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“Lowenstein Sandler has announced that Robert A. Johnston, Jr. has joined the firm as partner in its White Collar Criminal Defense group. He will be based in the New York office,” announced Lowenstein Sandler in their Firm News.

“Johnston’s practice includes investigations, regulatory counseling, pre- and post-transaction due diligence and monitoring, and compliance monitorships, with a special focus on representing private fund managers and portfolio companies and advising on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), anti-money laundering (AML), and trade sanctions compliance. His previous experience includes investigations and compliance projects in over 30 countries across six continents and matters involving the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commissions, and other state and local regulatory bodies, across a wide range of sectors, including technology, life sciences, consumer and retail, and financial services and private equity.”

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“Three large law firms have agreed to reduce fee applications by $1 million in their bankruptcy representation of Purdue Pharma, the maker of the prescription pain medication OxyContin, after the U.S. trustee alleged a failure to disclose a common interest agreement,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Verdicts & Settlements.

“The three law firms are Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr; and Dechert.”

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“Dentons — a firm with almost 11,000 lawyers spread across the globe, with most of them situated in the U.S. — announced yesterday that they’d be matching market bonuses for associates,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“To receive a full bonus, associates must meet 2,000 creditable billable hours by year, and those who hit 2,250 hours or more will be entitled to a bit of a bonus boost. Only associates on track to hit their minimum hours will receive bonus money.”

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“Biglaw firms across the country continue to hand out special bonuses to associates and counsel as a way to thank them for their dedication during the pandemic — and to keep them around amid an incredibly hot lateral market. Other firms are going a step further and instituting salary increases, raising those in major markets to the standard Biglaw salary scale (if they weren’t already there), and others in smaller markets by tens of thousands of dollars,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“According to emails sent by management earlier this week at Ice Miller, an Am Law 200 firm, effective July 1, 2021, all full-time associates and partner-track counsel will receive at least a $20,000 raise. With this raise comes an 1,850 billable hours expectation, and adjustments to the firm’s bonus plan will also be made in connection with these salary increases.”

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“Data privacy attorney Hilary Lane has joined Holland & Knight’s Tampa office as a partner. Ms. Lane was formerly the chief privacy officer for NBCUniversal. She is a member of Holland & Knight’s national Data Strategy, Security & Privacy Team,” posted Holland & Knight in their News.

“Ms. Lane, a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US), has extensive experience helping businesses navigate the privacy and cybersecurity landscape nationally and around the globe. As chief privacy officer for NBCUniversal, she built, implemented and led its global privacy program across diverse operating units and drove strategy throughout the organization. Building on that experience, Ms. Lane takes a strategic and practical approach, working closely with clients to design and implement global data privacy and security programs tailored to their business. Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Lane was a partner at Quarles & Brady.”

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“Schiff Hardin is stepping into a hot merger market that may put it in competition with other firms feeling pressure to scale up as quickly as possible,” reports David Thomas in Thomson Reuters Westlaw Today.

“The Chicago-based law firm is on the hunt for a merger partner after seeing its ranks steadily deplete over time, ever since a sizable group broke off to form Riley, Safer, Holmes & Cancila in 2016, said William Sugarman, founder and president of Windy City recruiting firm Astor Professional Research”

“Industry consultants have reported that the market for significant law firm mergers is heating up again after a pandemic-induced slowdown. Merger activity had reached record levels in recent years, only to plummet when the COVID-19 crisis led firms to tighten belts and kept law firm leaders close to home for much of 2020.”

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“There is limited good news at K&L Gates. Associates that bill a bunch of hours — well over the firm’s typical bonus hour requirement — will get special bonuses in line with the market rates sweeping the industry. But, woo boy, the firm’s extensive memo outlining the bonus is a real read,” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“Take a look at this gem, where the firm tells associates they need to care about more than just what other firms are paying:
We believe the Associate experience at K&L Gates is and should be an outstanding and rewarding career path for reasons going well beyond hours worked and what other firms are undertaking and expecting in the markets.”

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“Sullivan & Cromwell — an agency that introduced in gross income of $1,555,441,000 in 2020, inserting it at No. 18 in the latest Am Law 100 rating — is requiring all workers to return to the workplace in individual on July 6. The information of the total reopening of the agency’s U.S. workplaces was introduced earlier this month throughout a call with all attorneys. No e-mail has been despatched out on the matter,” reports Staci Zaretsky in VBLSA’s Criminal Defense.

“… quite a few associates … are removed from pleased with the state of affairs. Why’s that? Because the agency has reportedly not made any point out of the potential for distant, work-from-home preparations going ahead.”

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“Sidley is is pleased to announce that Tom Califano is joining the firm’s global Restructuring group. Mr. Califano will be a partner in the New York office. He joins from DLA Piper where he was the global co-chair and U.S. chair of the Restructuring group,” released Sidley in their News.

“As a nationally recognized restructuring lawyer, Mr. Califano represents large private and public companies, both in and out of court, buyers of distressed companies, and significant ad-hoc creditor constituencies with a particular focus on company and buyer-side representations. During his more than 30 years in practice, he has extensive experience working within multiple industries, including healthcare, energy, and financial services restructurings.”

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“Though Biglaw has largely thrived throughout the pandemic, there’s still been a wave of layoffs throughout the industry, as firms try to tweak their model to respond to industry changes. Now comes word that yet another Biglaw firm is readying their own round of layoffs,” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above The Law’s Biglaw.

“Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance is reportedly looking at between 44 and 73 layoffs of staff members in its London office. According to Roll on Friday, the departments impacted will be those hardest hit by the move to work from home, spurred by COVID-19. As such, secretaries, those in document production, and mail room staff will be offered severance packages in a ‘hybrid voluntary/compulsory redundancy approach.’ The firm is hopeful this will reduce ‘the number of compulsory redundancies needed.'”

“During the height of the pandemic, Clifford Chance avoided furloughs or layoffs, but now the firm says the time has come.”

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“Back in March, after completing an incredibly successful financial year against all odds in the face of a pandemic, DLA Piper decided it was high time to increase associates’ salaries outside of its major market offices. Slowly but surely, other firms began to follow in DLA’s footsteps: first came Alston & Bird, and then came King & Spalding,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“Midwestern firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, which is now doing business as Taft Law following its early 2020 merger with Minneapolis-based Briggs and Morgan. Effective July 1, the firm will increase salaries for all associates by $10,000, and increase first-year salaries as well, based on the following matrix:”

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“The nation’s 100 highest-grossing law firms had an average 6.6% increase in gross revenue last year, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Law.com’s reporting on its Am Law 100,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s News.

“The increase topped the 5% revenue growth for the Am Law 100 in 2019, Law.com reports. Across all 100 firms, revenue hit $111 billion. Revenue per lawyer increased nearly 5% to $1.05 million, while profits per equity partner increased 13.4% to $2.23 million.”

“These 10 law firms topped the Am Law 100 list:”

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