+ A look at a novel antitrust case.

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The Afternoon Docket

The Afternoon Docket

A weekly newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

 

By Caitlin Tremblay

What's going on in the legal industry this week?

Milbank hiked salaries, Kirkland is spending $500 million to develop its own AI tools, law professors prefer AI over their own colleagues, and President Trump tapped DLA Piper for his Central Park Five defamation case.

Plus, the latest moves in this week's Career Tracker.

Kentucky plaintiffs lawyers spar in novel antitrust case

 

REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao/File Photo 

A high-stakes feud between Kentucky plaintiffs’ lawyers is spilling into a rare antitrust fight, as a rival firm accuses billboard-heavy attorney Daryl “The Hammer” Isaacs of using restrictive contracts and litigation to choke off competition. The lawsuit claims Isaacs’ firm forces departing lawyers to surrender most of their fees and limits client contact, allegations that could test how antitrust law applies to law firm talent wars and reshape the rules of lawyer mobility.

Read more in this week's Billable Hours.

 

Industry updates

  • Milbank salary hikes signal new law firm pay race after lucrative year
  • Venezuela's Maduro adds Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyer to defense team
  • Law firm Kirkland to spend $500 million developing its own AI platform
  • DOJ seeks recusal of judge in Georgia voter rolls case, citing misconduct scandal
  • U.S. judiciary asked to adopt rule to curb fake AI-generated cases in filings
  • California court reverses ruling that relied on made-up case citation
  • Ohio proposal would limit ABA role in lawyer admissions
  • Trump expands legal team with DLA Piper in Central Park Five defamation case
  • AI beats law professors in Stanford tutoring study
  • Illinois lawmakers pass bill limiting investor influence on law firms
  • Trump 2020 election denier Kurt Olsen joins Justice Department
  • U.S. judiciary proposes expanding privacy protections in federal court filings
  • U.S. appeals court sanctions lawyers over AI ‘hallucinations,’ lack of candor
  • House Republicans advance constitutional amendment to prevent U.S. Supreme Court expansion
  • U.S. judicial panel tightens corporate disclosure rules to ensure judge recusals
 
 

Career Tracker

In New York:

Rick Martinez, leader of Hogan Lovells' trade finance practice for the Americas, left the firm to join Eversheds Sutherland as partner ... Hogan Lovells added antritrust partner Elai Katz from McDermott ... Private funds partner Katy Kim moved to Willkie from Fried Frank … M&A partner Iliana Karaoglan returned to Weil from Simpson Thacher … Sheppard added private client partner Brian Sieben from Davis Polk … Infrastructure, energy and real estate partners Kevin Donahue and Jacob Clark joined Cooley from Kirkland … Real estate partner Peter Bergan moved to Vinson & Elkins from Orrick … Restructuring partner Jarel Rosser moved to King & Spalding from K&L Gates … M&A partner Michael Darby joined Paul Weiss from Dechert …  Immigration partner Amy Haberman returned to McCarter & English from Foley Hoag … Pryor Cashman added employment partner Ilan Weiser from Ellenoff Grossman & Schole … Dechert added leveraged finance and private equity partner Andy Sagor from Akin Gump … Investment funds firm Kleinberg Kaplan added Norris Nissim as partner from Luxor Capital Group where he was general counsel.

In D.C.:

Life sciences partner Melissa Gilmore moved to Vedder from FDA Regulatory Counsel … Winston Taylor (formerly Winston & Strawn) added international trade partner Steven Hill from K&L Gates … Antitrust partner Christopher Abbott joined Venable from Jenner & Block … Hausfeld added antitrust partner