Wake Up Call: Spiro’s Pay Rate Has Nearly Doubled in Four Years

Welcome to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call, a daily rundown of the top news for lawyers, law firms, and in-house counsel.

• Quinn Emanuel partner Alex Spiro now charges $3,000 an hour — nearly double his 2021 rate and far above the average increases normally seen at Big Law firms. His rapid rate growth, averaging more than 16% annually, is a reflection of both his high-profile clientele, including Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, and Jay-Z, and the premium placed on top legal talent. (Business Insider)
• Michigan State University lawyers maintain unusually close involvement in Title IX investigations, despite federal guidance requiring independence, records show. MSU’s general counsel frequently exchanged drafts, evidence, and edits with both in-house and outside investigators — sometimes reviewing reports before cases concluded. (The State News)
• The current pool of applicants to ABA-accredited law schools is 33% larger than it was at this time last year, according to the Law School Admission Council. The current applicant increase comes on top of last year’s admissions boom, when the cycle started with a 26% jump in applicants before ending in an 18% increase — with 12,000 more people seeking a seat in law school. (Reuters)
• New York law firms are embracing office designs with soothing colors, hang-out spaces, and natural light to make in-person work more appealing — and to get people to talk to each other: “The idea was, and this was the lawyers telling the architects: ‘How do we get people out of their offices?’'' said Covington’s David Pinsky. “We decided to take the space that people want to gather and make it public space.” (New York Law Journal)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Andrew Arsiotis, Joshua Saidlower, Henry Zangara, and Steve Rockoff joined BakerHostetler as mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and debt finance partners in New York. They join from Loeb & Loeb.
• Maura Rezendes joined Sidley Austin as a partner in its global arbitration, trade and advocacy practice in Washington. She joins from A&O Shearman.
• Allison Jones joined Steptoe as a partner in its transactions practice in Washington.
• Kim Prior joined King & Spalding as a partner in its financial services industry team and finance and restructuring practice group in New York. She joins from Winston & Strawn.
• Robert Stephan joined Jones Walker as a partner in its tax practice group in Chicago.
• Jason Levine and Teresa Taylor joined Foley & Lardner as partners in its litigation department in Washington. Levine joins from Omni Bridgeway and Taylor joins from Taft Stettinius & Hollister.
• Jeffrey Gleason joined Crowell & Moring as a partner in its health-care group. He joins from Robins Kaplan.
• Chris Stecher joined Frost Brown Todd as a partner in its business and commercial litigation practice group in San Francisco. He joins from Keesal, Young & Logan.
• Mark Kornfeld joined Fox Rothschild as a partner in its litigation department. He joins from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.
• David Leopold joined Thompson Hine as a partner in its labor and employment and immigration practices in Cleveland. He joins from UB Greensfelder.
• Anthony Crawford joined Olshan Frome Wolosky as a partner and insurance coverage law practice chair in New York. He joins from Reed Smith.