+ The latest lawyer moves.
 

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?

AI missteps are landing lawyers in hot water, courts are cracking down on AI "hallucinations" in court filings, the ABA is rehsaping its rules around DEI, and we got some insight into Sullivan & Cromwell partner pay in a judicial ethics filing.

Plus, the latest lawyer moves in Career Tracker.

OpenAI grows stable of law firms for high-stakes lawsuits, deals

 

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

OpenAI, now valued around $852 billion, is quietly assembling a heavyweight roster of Big Law talent as it juggles high-stakes litigation and eyes a potential IPO as soon as September. Wachtell and Morrison Foerster just notched a win in an Elon Musk suit, clearing a key obstacle, while firms including Cooley, Latham, Munger Tolles, Wilson Sonsini and Keker Van Nest are steering everything from blockbuster financings to copyright and trade secrets battles. Read more about OpenAI's legal bench in this week's Billable Hours.

 

Industry updates

  • Trump administration brings on record new class of immigration judges
  • California moves to new national bar exam after online testing failures
  • Trump attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell nominated to judgeship pledges to recuse from cases
  • American Bar Association votes to eliminate DEI rule for law schools
  • U.S. court upholds dismissal of RICO case against law firms Boies Schiller, Dentons 
  • OpenAI says ChatGPT is not a lawyer, asks court to toss insurer's lawsuit
  • Fired U.S. immigration judge sues over alleged targeting by Trump administration
  • Lawyer apologizes for 'phantom' AI quotes in Trump layoffs case
  • Lawyer barred from Harvard morgue scandal case over fake AI citations
  • Former DOJ lawyer charged with theft of unreleased report on Trump documents case
 
 

Career Tracker

In New York:

Restructuring partner Josh Sturm moved to Proskauer from Davis Polk … Gibson Dunn added Matthew Roose to its restructuring practice from Ropes & Gray … Banking and credit partner Marten Olsson joined Simpson Thacher from Kirkland … Alston & Bird hired Derek Steingarten as partner in its investment funds group from Morrison Foerster … Corporate partner Amanda Gill left Goodwin for DLA Piper … Holland & Knight added executive compensation partner Sarah Burke from Debevoise & Plimpton … Stuart Glick moved to Bracewell’s real estate special situations practice as a partner from Holland & Knight … Pillsbury added financial disputes and digital asset litigation partners Douglas Curran and Jonathan Kortmansky from Anderson Kill.

In D.C.:

Holland & Knight added Shiva Goel as chair of its telecommunications, media and technology practice from Wiley Rein … Renewable energy tax credit partner Dusko Stojkov joined Nixon Peabody from Offit Kurman … Steptoe added a four-partner international trade team from Winston & Strawn: Cari Stinebower, Christopher Man, Mariana Pendás Fernández and Dainia Jabaji … AdTech and privacy partner Meredith Halama joined Cooley from Perkins Coie.

In Los Angeles:

Infrastructure and project finance partners Patrick Harder and Brandon Davis moved to Blank Rome. Harder joins from Norton Rose Fulbright and Davis joins from Nossaman … Seyfarth Shaw added commercial litigation partner Mhare Mouradian from Husch Blackwell.

In San Francisco:

IP trial lawyer Kieran Kieckhefer joined Latham as a partner from Gibson Dunn … IP Partner Matthew McCullough moved to Faegre Drinker from Winston & Strawn.

In Chicago: 

Skadden added derivatives partner Tim Elliott from the National Futures Association where he was general counsel … Finance and restructuring partners Gregory Gartland and April Doxey left Winston & Strawn for Willkie … Loeb & Loeb