K&L Gates, a multinational law firm with its roots in the US, has resorted to layoffs in four of its US based offices due to lower-than-expected volume of work. The affected offices are located in Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C., and Pittsburgh. Further details about the layoffs can be found on Law.com.
In other news, legal entity Stroock & Stroock & Lavan have recruited Gary Polkowitz, a senior managing director at Teneo, to oversee the process of their firm’s dissolution. Togut Segal & Segal, a New York insolvency law boutique, is Stroock’s legal counsel for this process. Details about this development can be found in The Global Legal Post.
In a competitive attempt to retain lawyers and attract the best talent, elite law firms are spending significant sums to lure star partners. These moves have sparked a rise in salary across the industry, with several prominent firms announcing hikes in compensation for associate attorneys. More on this can be read in the Wall Street Journal.
In an intriguing development, the Texas Republican party is suing lawyer Elizabeth Alvarez for allegedly deceiving members into believing the 2022 general election in Harris County was rigged. The party argues that Alvarez lied about a “data model” which indicated an intentional shortage of paper ballots in the county targeting Republican voters. More on this case can be found in the The Houston Chronicle.
Turning our eye to in-house legal hires, Jennifer Miller has joined Grammarly as general counsel. Details on this move can be accessed here. In another lateral hire, Jason J. Port has confirmed his move to McLane Middleton as counsel with the trusts and estates group. More about this move can be found here.