Jackson Walker inks partial deal over tainted fees

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By Caitlin Tremblay

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

Abbe Lowell hired his first partner at the law firm he launched last year to defend Trump targets ... SpaceX tapped Gibson Dunn and Davis Polk for its IPO ... These law schools aced the bar exam ... and California could be first state to make law schools teach AI.

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

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones is seen in a screenshot from video shot during a virtual interview with Reuters in December 2020. REUTERS/Staff

Jackson Walker moved a step closer this week to resolving the financial fallout from a judicial ethics scandal that erupted when former U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones admitted he shared a home with a former partner at the firm.

The revelation more than two years ago cast doubt over millions of dollars in legal fees Jones approved for Jackson Walker in cases he oversaw in the federal bankruptcy court in Houston. On Wednesday, Jackson Walker and the DOJ's bankruptcy watchdog announced a deal to allow the law firm to settle with nine ex‑clients that claimed the fees they paid were tainted.

The joint stipulation, announced during a multi-day evidentiary hearing in Houston, would resolve objections by the Office of the U.S. Trustee to more than $4 million in Jackson Walker settlements. But the deal does not end a broader battle between the firm and Kevin Epstein, the U.S. Trustee for the Southern and Western Districts of Texas. Epstein continues to seek disgorgement of all fees Jackson Walker earned in Jones' cases — more than $11 million. Read more in this week's Billable Hours.

In New York:

Craig Warkol joined Seward & Kissel as chair of the firm's litigation and investigations group from Schulte Roth & Zabel … M&A partner Tyler Carson moved to McDermott from Cadwalader.

In D.C.:

Andrew Averbach, former solicitor of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, joined Womble Bond Dickinson's business litigation practice … Patent litigation partner John Wittenzellner moved to Boies Schiller from Williams Simons & Landis … Eversheds Sutherland added litigator Alexandra Chopin from Winston & Strawn … Patent trial partner David Shaw moved to Latham from Desmarais … Bankruptcy partner Luke Murley joined Akerman from Saul Ewing … Antitrust partner David Pear moved to HSF Kramer from Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider.

In Chicago: 

Greenberg Traurig added Julie Sirlin as a partner in its private wealth services practice from Taft Stettinius & Hollister … Labor and employment partner Heather Renee Adams moved to Thompson Hine from Roetzel & Andress … Former CDC microbiologist Gregory Fosheim joined McGuireWoods' healthcare practice from McDermott. McGuireWoods also hired IP litigator Paul Schoenhard from Fried Frank … Barnes & Thornburg added Elizabeth Davis to its corporate department from Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella … Honigman hired Franklin Gregg from Kirkland and Marjorie Mygrants from Ropes & Gray to its private equity practice. 

In Los Angeles: 

Willkie added energy and project finance partner Scott Snyder from O'Melveny … Healthcare regulatory partner Jennifer Yoo returned to Latham from Fenwick & West … Defense attorney Dana Alden Fox moved to plaintiffs firm BD&J from Lewis Brisbois … Jarrod Huffman joined Mayer Brown's global funds and asset management practice from Morgan Lewis … Christine Bae joined Simpson Thacher's capital structure solutions practice from Kirkland … McDermott added Peter Tucci to its private client practice from Proskauer Rose … Carlos Jimenez joined K&L Gates' workplace safety practice from Protection Law Group … Complex commercial litigator Kirsten Jackson moved to Pillsbury from Latham.

In San Francisco:

Duane Morris added Michael Lateef to its corporate practice from Hanson Bridgett … Patent litigator Mike Rueckheim moved to King & Spalding from Winston & Strawn. 

Across other cities:

Former acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, Teal Luthy Miller, moved to Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle … Barnes & Thornburg added Princess Fuller to its corporate department in Atlanta from McDermott … DLA Piper added Hildy Sastre to its national trial bench in Miami from Shook, Hardy & Bacon … Cozen O'Connor added litigators David Spector, Adam Hodges, Andrew Loewenstein and James Duffy in West Palm Beach from Holland & Knight … Bankruptcy partner John Penn moved to Fox Rothschild in Dallas from Perkins Coie … Jacob Ruby joined Simpson Thacher's capital structure solutions practice in Houston from Kirkland … Akerman added bankruptcy partner Luke Murley in Wilmington, Delaware, from Saul Ewing … Lathrop GPM hired Thomas Calhoun-Lopez, former DOJ crimes chief in the District of Minnesota, to its white-collar investigations practice in Minneapolis … Technology transactions attorney Adam Snukal joined Honigman in Israel from Greenberg Traurig.

Firm leadership:

Ramona Nee will succeed Barry Wolf as Weil's executive partner. Co-managing partner Jonathon Soler will become the firm's sole managing partner. Both will assume their new roles on January 1, 2027.

Read more about the pass rates here.

caitlin.tremblay@thomsonreuters.com