Wake Up Call: US Attorney Ed Martin Tied to Judge Smear Campaign

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

• Ed Martin, the interim US attorney for Washington, DC, secretly coordinated a smear campaign against a federal judge by feeding false information to a far-right news site and creating anonymous social media accounts to attack the judge’s character. John Barberis had previously found Martin in civil contempt in a lawsuit and ordered him and his allies to pay over $25,000 in sanctions. (ProPublica)
• Sixteen Democratic members of Congress sent letters to nine law firms questioning their free legal services agreements with the Trump administration, suggesting the deals may violate federal law. The lawmakers, led by Rep. Dave Min (D-Calif.) and Rep. April Delaney (D-Md.), requested detailed explanations from the firms by May 8. Similar requests were made by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) earlier this month. (ABC News)
• The State Bar of California, under a $8.25 million contract with Kaplan, developed its new bar exam using a mix of recycled questions and AI-assisted drafting by its independent non-lawyer psychometrician, ACS Ventures. The new exam, launched in February, faced significant technical and administrative issues, prompting discussions about lowering the passing score and considering other remedies for examinees. (ABA Journal)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Aaron Cooper rejoined Jenner & Block as co-chair of its cybersecurity and data privacy practice. He joins from the National Security Council.
• Michael Marek joined Kirkland & Ellis as a partner in its corporate practice group. He joins from Vinson & Elkins.
• Lawrence Elbaum and Patrick Gadson joined Sullivan & Cromwell as partners in its corporate governance practice in New York.
• Trevor Ogle was named chief legal officer at Voya Financial.
• Jennifer Taylor joined Jackson Lewis as a principal in Miami.
• Laura Cannon joined Hinshaw & Culbertson as a partner in its appellate team within its government practice group in New Orleans. She joins from the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.