A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Sara Merken

What's going on today?

The Afternoon Docket will not publish on Thursday in recognition of Juneteenth. We’ll be back on Friday. 

REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Republican-backed ban in Tennessee on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors in a setback for transgender rights that could bolster efforts by states to defend other measures targeting transgender people. 

The court, in a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative justices, decided that the ban does not violate the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment promise of equal protection. They upheld a lower court's decision upholding Tennessee's law barring medical treatments such as puberty blockers and hormones for people under age 18 experiencing gender dysphoria. The Supreme Court's three liberal justices dissented.

Read more about the ruling from Andrew Chung.

In New York: Cadwalader litigation partner Ellen Holloman joined Kaplan Martin … Kirkland brought on former Ropes & Gray private equity leader Carolyn Vardi … Morgan Lewis rehired structured transactions partner Edward J.L. Southgate from Dechert … Proskauer picked up M&A partner Anya Hodes from Paul Weiss … Willkie Farr hired private funds partner Debra Franzese from Seward & Kissel … Bracewell added tax partner Derek Young from Baker Botts … Alston & Bird brought on former federal prosecutor Drew Rolle … McDermott added litigation partner Jenny Lee from Kirkland … White & Case hired capital markets partner Drew Valentine from DLA Piper … Vedder Price picked up Alexander Leonard from Golenbock Eiseman, where he chaired the labor and employment team. 

In D.C.: Former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein moved from King & Spalding to Baker McKenzie …Boies Schiller Flexner picked up patent litigation partners Blair Jacobs, Christina Ondrick and John Holley from Spencer Fane … Former DHS deputy chief of staff Sharmistha Das rejoined Crowell as a government contracts partner … Squire Patton Boggs brought on private credit partner Cynthia Weiss from Polsinelli … Rob DeConti, former chief counsel for the HHS Office of Inspector General, landed at King & Spalding … Former DOJ lawyer Joshua Kurland joined Hogan Lovells as an international trade partner … ZwillGen added former DOJ lawyer Laura-Kate Bernstein as a legal director and lawyer Jamie Elbert from Constangy.

In Los Angeles: Nelson Mullins picked up corporate partner Peter Rho from Smith Gambrell & Russell … Frost Brown Todd added insurance coverage partner Michele Levinson from Colman Perkins.

Across other cities: Sullivan & Cromwell hired London-based partner Barnabas Reynolds from A&O Shearman, where he was a global financial services leader … Fenwick brought on executive compensation partner Jim Hauser in Boston from Gunderson … Kathryn Inman, former general counsel in the Florida attorney general’s office, joined Holland & Knight in Tallahassee … Akin hired M&A partner Joshua La Vigne and investment management partner Jessica Pan in Chicago from Mayer Brown … Husch Blackwell hired San Antonio, Texas-based banking and finance partner Bruce Toppin from Holland & Knight and Naples, Florida-based private wealth partner Lorna McGeorge from GrayRobinson ... Lowenstein Sandler added former federal prosecutor Shontae Gray in Roseland, New Jersey … Norton Rose Fulbright hired corporate finance partner Jonathan Riley in Dallas and Chicago from Holland & Knight … Haynes Boone picked up insurance recovery partner Carrie DiCanio in Denver and New York from Anderson Kill … Holland & Knight added financial services partner Danielle Reyes as a partner in Austin from Goodwin.