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3. 59 partners leave A&O Shearman outside Asia…

Layoffs

59 partners leave A&O Shearman outside Asia since decision to trim 10% of equity partnership

By Debra Cassens Weiss

April 28, 2025, 3:19 pm CDT

Twenty-five U.S. partners are among the 59 partners who left A&O Shearman since its decision last year to trim 10% of its global equity partnership, according to a count by Law.com.

The count does not include 15 partners who left A&O Shearman in Asia, as previously reported by Law.com. Butit does include partners who left in the United States, London, Europe, Africa and Australia.

A&O Shearman said last year the partner cuts were “a difficult but necessary step forward” following the merger between Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling. About 45 partners who left joined other law firms.

A&O Shearman said it currently has around 800 partners worldwide, which is about the same number that it had when it announced the cuts. It is unclear why the current number isn’t lower, according to Law.com.

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3. Supreme Court appears likely to rule against…

U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court appears likely to rule against Mexico in suit against gun-makers for cartel violence

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 5, 2025, 12:46 pm CST

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared likely to side with U.S. gun companies arguing that Mexico cannot sue over the flow of firearms into the country because of a 2005 law providing gun-makers with immunity for third-party crimes committed with their products.

“After a nearly two-hour argument,” the Washington Post reports, “a majority of justices—if not a unanimous court—appeared likely to block the lawsuit from proceeding, with several suggesting Mexico had not shown a close enough connection between guns made in the United States and drug cartel violence.”

Several other publications also reported that the Supreme Court appeared sympathetic to gun company arguments, including Reuters, the New York Times, CNN and SCOTUSblog.

Mexico argues that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act does not shield gun companies because they sell to “red-flag dealers” known for illegally selling to straw purchasers who traffic guns across the border. Mexico’s suit seeks injunctive relief and about $10 billion in damages, according to an ABA Journal case preview.

The suit cites a provision in the law that allows civil liability when businesses knowingly violate a state or a federal law regarding the sale or marketing of firearms or when the the companies aid and abet the violation. The violation must also be the proximate cause of the harm—in this case, drug cartel violence—that is the basis of the suit.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Boston had allowed Mexico to pursue the suit.

Suit defendants Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms, a gun distributor, asked the Supreme Court to overturn the 1st Circuit’s decision. Initial defendants included seven firearms manufacturers and one wholesaler, but a federal judge dismissed six of them for lack of personal jurisdiction while the cert petition was pending, according to a brief filed by the gun companies.

Noel J. Francisco, a Jones Day partner and a former U.S. solicitor general during President Donald Trump’s first term, argued for the companies.

Mexico “asserts that defendants are liable for every illegal sale by every retailer in America because they know that a small percentage of firearms are sold illegally and don’t do more to stop it,” he said. “If Mexico is right, then every law enforcement organization in America has missed the largest criminal conspiracy in history operating right under their nose, and Budweiser is liable for every accident caused by underage drinkers since it knows that teenagers will buy beer, drive drunk and crash.”

In an exchange with Catherine Stetson, a lawyer for the Mexican government, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the suit does not contend that gun companies violate any U.S. laws.

Instead, the suit allegations “just go to whether or not the defendant had knowledge that at the end of the day, … some dealers might be doing something wrong,” Jackson said.

The case is Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos.

The SCOTUSblog case page is here.

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3. Top military lawyers are fired; will replacements…

Military Law

Top military lawyers are fired; will replacements allow more aggressive battlefield approach?

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 24, 2025, 10:03 am CST

The secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense is looking for new judge advocates general for the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, he said in an announcement Friday.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth fired the lawyers currently in those top JAG positions, the New York Times reports, representing “an opening salvo in his push to remake the military into a force that is more aggressive on the battlefield and potentially less hindered by the laws of armed conflict.”

Commenting Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter, Rosa Brooks, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, said firing the top lawyers is “what you do when you’re planning to break the law: You get rid of any lawyers who might try to slow you down.”

On Fox News Sunday, Hegseth was asked for his response to Brooks, report Law & Crime and the Daily Beast.

“We want lawyers who give sound constitutional advice and don’t exist to attempt to be roadblocks to anything that happens in their spots,” he said.

The New York Times identified the fired lawyers as Lt. Gen. Joseph B. Berger III, Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer and Rear Adm. Lia M. Reynolds.

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3. Former practice chair allegedly overbilled…

Ethics

Former practice chair allegedly overbilled clients by over $3.5M at 2 BigLaw firms, ethics complaint says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 26, 2025, 12:13 pm CST

A former partner in the Chicago offices of two large international law firms is facing an ethics complaint alleging that he falsified billing records and caused clients to be overbilled by more than $3.5 million over a period of 20 years.

William Michael Doyle Jr. is accused in a Feb. 19 ethics complaint filed by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, the Legal Profession Blog reports.

The ethics complaint does not name the firms. But an online press release from 2022 said Doyle was the trusts and estates practice chair at Winston & Strawn before he joined Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder in August 2022.

“Doyle is a renowned tax and estate-planning expert with more than four decades of experience representing many of the wealthiest families in the United States and around the world,” the press release said.

While working at both firms, Doyle directed other lawyers and staff members to perform tasks for clients and reviewed their time-keeping records. Doyle was supposed to review the records and approve them for submission to the accounting department, which then billed clients.

The ethics complaint alleges that Doyle caused clients to be overbilled for the work that he oversaw and performed by recording time for services not provided, by inflating the hours worked, by billing for time spent on other clients, and by recording time that should have been written off.

The ethics complaint alleges that Doyle caused Winston & Strawn clients to be overbilled by $2,529,378 over 18 years. He is accused of causing Greenberg Traurig’s clients to be overbilled by $973,910 over a period of less than two years.

After learning of the time misrepresentations, both firms reviewed client invoices and offered to refund the amounts based on false information.

“Some, but not all, of the clients agreed to accept the refunds offered by the firms,” the ethics complaint says.

When reached by phone, Doyle said he could not comment without first speaking with his lawyer.

A Greenberg Traurig spokesperson gave this statement to the ABA Journal: “Mr. Doyle was with our firm for less than two years. As soon as we became aware of questionable billing practices, we investigated, and within weeks, took corrective actions, including notifying the Illinois bar [the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission], fully cooperating with the ARDC and offering a full refund of amounts that appeared to have been questionably billed to impacted clients. By the conclusion of our investigation, Mr. Doyle was no longer associated with our firm.”

A Winston & Strawn spokesperson gave this statement to the ABA Journal: “Bill Doyle left Winston & Strawn in August 2022 and has not been associated with our firm since that time. We are committed to upholding the highest ethical standards and have zero tolerance for any actions that compromise our integrity or the trust our clients place in us. The complaint does not name Winston or cite any misconduct by the firm but instead alleges that Mr. Doyle made misrepresentations to the firm’s billing department that resulted in the improper invoices. Since learning of this matter, we have conducted a thorough investigation and taken appropriate measures to address any harm to our clients.”

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In 80 countries around the world over the past 30 years, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ROLI) has worked with lawyers, judges and civil society to promote the rule of law.

Key among its programs have been safeguarding the independent judiciary; emphasizing the important role the judiciary plays in a democratic society; working with civil society and non-governmental organizations to strengthen the judiciary and provide access to justice; and training judges, lawyers and government officials on ethics, transparency, constitutional protections and substantive areas such as procedure, corruption, human trafficking, Internet freedom and human rights.

In addition, ROLI has developed tools to assess judicial independence. This sustained effort over three decades has had a major impact in shaping judiciaries and protecting judicial independence. This work has been done through judicial and lawyer volunteers, and professional staff drawn primarily from the locales where ROLI has worked.

In recognition of this work, the Federal Judges Association of the United States successfully nominated ROLI to receive the Judicial Independence Award from the International Judges Association (IAJ), the largest association of jurists with member organizations in 92 countries across all continents.

In making the award, IAJ President Duro Sessa of Croatia highlighted “The role of ABA-ROLI, the courage and the absolute commitment of its prestigious members” and “the long standing engagement of ABA ROLI in defense of the values of rule of law and judicial independence and its programs aimed at strengthening legal institutions, supporting legal professions, fostering respect for human rights and advancing public understanding of the law and of citizen rights.”

On behalf of ROLI, Judge M. Margaret McKeown from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco accepted the award in October in a ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa, at the General Assembly of the Central Council of the IAJ. McKeown serves as vice chair of the ROLI Board (along with Debra Enix Ross) and is a United States delegate to the IAJ. The chair of the ROLI board is former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

Origins of ROLI

After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, a renaissance in legal and political reform spread through Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states. In response, the ABA founded the Central and European Law Initiative (CEELI), which responded to calls for help in drafting constitutions and statutes, building legal institutions and promoting a culture of law. Instead of advocating for an American-centric approach, CEELI let the host country partners take the lead in shaping the programs.

By 2000, over 5,000 volunteers from around the world had focused on judicial restructuring in both criminal and commercial law. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, was a leader in the initiative.

Building on the success in Europe and Central Asia, the initiative expanded to Asia in 1998 and, by 2000, to Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. Several years later, the programs extended to the Middle East and North Africa. ROLI is governed by a board of volunteer judges and lawyers.

Strengthening governance and justice systems

An essential component of ROLI’s work is the strengthening of governance and justice systems. These efforts extend across the justice section, from the bench to the bar, the public square and the classroom. Importantly, this work has focused on long-term institutional changes that strengthen the judiciary. While ROLI has sponsored a number of meetings and conferences focused on judicial independence, understanding the nature of the on-the-ground work provides a more nuanced view of ROLI’s impact.

Some projects undertaken by ROLI

   • Developing and implementing the Judicial Reform Index to assess judicial reform and independence, using comparative analyses of legal traditions, international standards and regional norms. Not long ago, ROLI brought together key players in the area to consider how to measure success in justice reform.

   • Collaborating in 2023 with the Southern East African Chief Justices Forum to provide legal guidance for judicial officers and creating the Bench Book on Computer Crimes and Cybercrimes in Southern Africa.

   • Working with judges from Pakistan, Egypt, Poland, Turkey, Algeria and Venezuela, among others, to craft and implement ethics codes.

   • Sponsoring an international symposium for East African high court justices and judges on combating international and transnational crimes, including participation by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

   • Cooperating with the courts in the Philippines to address access to the court system, automation of court records and nationwide implementation of small-claims procedures.

   • Partnering with ministries of justice, local courts, law schools and national training centers to assist in the monumental process of shifting from the inquisitorial to the adversarial model in criminal justice. Intensive training has been the hallmark of programs in the Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama and Mexico.

   • Building confidence in the judiciary through community trust, including working with hundred of judges on a Judicial Media Guide, instructing on the ethical bounds of judges’ relationships with the media.

   • Opening mobile courts in Africa to promote access to justice in human trafficking and domestic violence cases.

   • Sponsoring “Roads to Justice” programs in Mexico, Morocco and Panama to promote transparency and combat corruption by education citizens and connecting courts to the citizens.

   • Promoting transitional justice programs in Mali after a coup resulted in massive human rights abuses. Similarly, ROLi as worked in Moldova, Armenia, Nepal and Russia, undertaking training on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights.

   • Prioritizing judicial work in the human trafficking arena, including creating a Human Trafficking Assessment Tool to measure compliance with the United Nations Trafficking Protocol. Recent programs included a collaboration with the judiciary in Colombia. Given the magnitude of the challenge, nearly 28 million victims worldwide, ROLI has worked with judiciaries in countries ranging from the Solomon Islands to Haiti.

The award is particularly timely in light of ROLI’s expanding work in the judicial arena and the increasing pressure on judicial independence from authoritarian regimes in many parts of the world.

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ABA Abroad is a column highlighting the work of the ABA’s Center for Global Programs, which comprises the Rule of Law Initiative, Center for Human Rights and the ABA’s presence at the United Nations.

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This column reflects the opinions of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

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3. Anti-abortion princess explains her friendship…

U.S. Supreme Court

Anti-abortion princess explains her friendship with Justice Alito after he discloses $900 gift

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 23, 2024, 12:18 pm CDT

A German princess has said she first met U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito at a Catholic conference while summering in Rome.

Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, whose primary home is a 500-room palace, told the New York Times that she was introduced to Alito by a priest who is a mutual acquaintance. She couldn’t recall the exact date, but the New York Times said Alito was in Rome for a 2018 event sponsored by a law school.

Princess Gloria said she immediately liked Alito and his “very fun, bubbly” wife, so she invited them to a music festival in which she opens her palace to guests.

“I met him as a Catholic, and I realized that he’s a judge who is pro-life,” Princess Gloria told the New York Times. That was a great thing, she said, “because very few people I know are pro-life.”

The Alitos stayed in the palace when they attended the music festival in 2023; the accommodation does not have to be disclosed. The festival included a performance of “The Magic Flute” and a concert by a Michael Jackson tribune band. Princess Gloria also obtained tickets for the Alitos to attend a music festival celebrating the work of German composer Richard Wagner.

Alito valued the gift of concert tickets at $900.

Princess Gloria was once dubbed “Princess TNT” for being a “wild version” of Princess Diana of Wales, a member of the British royal family, according to the New York Times. In her younger days, she sported a multicolored mohawk and rode motorcycles. She became more religious after her husband died in 1990.

The 64-year-old princess is now “an anti-abortion and anti-immigration provocateur” with “ties to the European far right,” the New York Times said.

Princess Gloria toured the Supreme Court in 2019 and posed with Alito and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. With her on the tour were the president of a nonprofit that opposes the legalization of same-sex marriage and a “right-wing German cardinal,” according to the New York Times.

She said she isn’t political, however.

“The only thing that I care about in politics is that somebody is fighting abortion and helping reproduction rates go up,” she told the New York Times. “I think that killing our own offspring and reducing our reproduction rates, eventually, we will kill our own kind.”

Hat tip to How Appealing.

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3. 2 BigLaw firms ‘fighting it out in the lateral…

Law Firms

2 BigLaw firms ‘fighting it out in the lateral market’ vote to merge

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 9, 2024, 3:32 pm CDT

Partners at Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders and Locke Lord have voted to merge effective Jan. 1, 2025.

The new law firm will be called Troutman Pepper Locke, according to press releases here and here and stories by Law.com, Law360 and Bloomberg Law.

The combined firm will have more than 1,600 lawyers in 33 U.S. offices and two European offices in London and Brussels.

The firm’s new chair will be Tom Cole, chair of Troutman Pepper. Troutman Pepper Locke’s current revenues would give it a No. 28 ranking in the Am Law 100 list of top-grossing firms, according to a fact sheet.

The firms confirmed merger talks in April. Partners approved the merger Sept. 5.

Legal consultant Kent Zimmermann of the Zeughauser Group told Law360 that he proposed the merger early this year in his role as an adviser at Troutman Pepper.

Both firms were “fighting it out in the lateral market” because they both focus on the same six industry sectors, Zimmermann said.

“I would call it the most strategic law firm recombination in recent memory,” he told Law360.

According to a press release, the firms share practice strengths in industries that include energy, financial services, health care and life sciences, insurance and reinsurance, private equity and real estate.

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3. Fourth BigLaw firm closes office in China

Law Firms

Fourth BigLaw firm closes office in China

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 6, 2024, 8:16 am CST

Perkins Coie is closing its Shanghai office while emphasizing that it remains committed to its China practice and clients.

Perkins Coie still has a Beijing office that opened in 2002 and a China intellectual property agency that opened in 2019, report Law360 and Law.com. Law.com also mentions a Taipei, Taiwan, office that Perkins Coie opened in 2011.

The Shanghai office shutdown affects two lawyers and two patent consultants, the articles report. Three other Perkins Coie partners are connected to the Shanghai office, but they primarily work in the United States.

Perkins Coie is the fourth law firm to announce an office closure in China within the last eight months, according to Law.com. Other firms that recently closed offices in mainland China are Proskauer Rose, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and Latham & Watkins.

“The move comes amid a flurry of movement among BigLaw firms in China,” Law360 reports, “with the majority of those firms closing offices or conducting layoffs and a handful adding new offices as the country faces an ongoing economic slump and a downturn in mergers and acquisitions activity.”

Linklaters laid off 30 lawyers in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in September. Kirkland & Ellis reportedly laid off nine lawyers in those same locations, according to a report yesterday. Kirkland & Ellis refused to confirm or deny the report in a statement issued to Law360.

“However, we would note that our Asia capital markets team, with eight partners and over 30 fee earners, continues to be one of the largest in the region,” the Kirkland & Ellis statement said.