Wake Up Call: Norcross Lawyer Sees Fallout from Criminal Charges

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

• New Jersey attorney Bill Tambussi should be removed from Rutgers University’s board of governors, according to a faculty union, after being accused of racketeering related to his work for Democratic power broker George Norcross. Tambussi, Norcross and others were indicted Monday on charges stemming from an alleged tax incentive development scam. (News 12 New Jersey)
• Skadden is advising Honeywell in a $1.9 billion deal to acquire CAES Systems Holdings LLC. The Arlington, Va.-based aerospace and defense technology provider is owned by private equity firm Advent International. (Honeywell)
• Scottish legal tech startup Wordsmith has $5 million in seed money from two venture capital firms and a partnership deal with DLA Piper. The company’s “lawyer in the loop” platform promises “a team of AI legal assistants.” (TechCrunch)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Danielle Rizzo has joined Philllips Lytle as a partner in its immigration practice group.
• Matthew Badrov has joined Littler as a partner in the firm’s Toronto office, coming from Sherrard Kuzz.
• Ted Chiappari has joined Duane Morris as chair of the immigration division of the firm’s employment, labor, benefits and immigration practice group.
• Ryan Phelps has joined Holland & Knight as a partner in the tax, executive compensation and benefits practice group in Houston. He was previously a partner at Kirkland & Ellis.
• Allison Ko has joined Womble Bond Dickinson as a partner in the patent prosecution and litigation group in Greenville, S.C.
• Ryan Leichsenring joins Day Pitney as a tax partner in the Hartford, Conn., office.
• Christopher Horn, a widely recognized industry leader in the regulation of securitization transactions, has joined Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft as a partner in the firm’s New York office.
• Jacquie Duval has joined Perkins Coie’s corporate and financial regulation practices in New York as the chair of Private Capital and Fund Formation, where she will help expand the firm’s capabilities serving private funds and family offices. She joins from K&L Gates.
• O’Kelly McWilliams III, a partner in Holland & Knight’s Washington, D.C., office, has been named the firm’s new diversity partner.