Lookzy: all your daily legal news in 0.1 billable hours. Litigation, deals, lateral moves and industry news; we cover it all. 

Welcome to Lookzy.  In today's Lookzy:

• Breaking down the Apple GC's $27.1 million dollar payday

• The SEC's continued crypto enforcement

• The punishment a potential juror received for skipping jury selection

• The law firm with a monthly "bring your dog to work" day

Was this email forwarded to you?  Subscribe below.

APPLE GC's $27M PAYDAY

While BigLaw compensation is relatively public, in-house compensation is often a mystery.  At the highest levels, though, public company disclosures can provide insight as to what is possible to earn as a top in-house lawyer at one of the world's most profitable companies.  

Apple general counsel Katherine Adams received $27.1 million in total compensation during fiscal 2022, a slight increase compared to 2021.  This figure makes her one of the highest paid GCs.

Adams' compensation primarily consisted of a $1 million base salary, $4 million cash incentive bonus and over $22 million in time-based RSUs.  Apple additionally contributed a few thousand dollars to Adams' 401(k).  

Adams joined Apple as GC in November 2017.  Prior to working at Apple, Adams served as GC of Honeywell International for nine years and worked there for a total of 14 years. Prior to going in-house, Adams was a partner at Sidley Austin.

ECON SNAPSHOT

The difference between special bonuses and layoffs

THE VERDICT

Arguing today's litigation news

Crypto enforcement.  The SEC charged Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, and Genesis, the lending company owned by Digital Currency Group, with unregistered securities offerings in violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act.  The charges stem from a lending program set up by Gemini and Genesis together, whereby Gemini Earn users lent over $900 million in crypto to Gemini in exchange for a set interest rate, which Gemini then provided to Genesis for investment in order to pay the interest.  Due to liquidity issues, the funds were ultimately locked from users and have been the subject of a public fight between Gemini and Genesis.  

Elon at trial.  Rare for public company CEOs, Elon Musk and Tesla will go to trial next week against a class of investors regarding Musk's 2018 tweet announcing he had 'funding secured' to take Tesla private.  

FTC v. Microsoft v. gamers.  Microsoft, facing a private antitrust challenge from a group of gamers in addition to the suit it is facing from the FTC over its proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision, asked a California federal judge to pause the private suit while the FTC suit is underway, arguing that the outcome of the FTC suit could render the private suit moot.

FTX catchup.  FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried went against all typical advice given to criminal defendants when he published a Substack article outlining his potential defenses.  He reiterated that he did not steal billions and again pointed the finger against Sullivan & Cromwell as bankruptcy counsel, given that they represented the company previously.  In related news, SBF's dad, the Stanford law professor, retained Sean Hecker of Kaplan Hecker to represent himself.  

Judicial punishment.  A potential juror who skipped jury selection in order to go on a trip to the Dominican Republic was required to write a 30-page essay using APA style and citations about the important of jury service as a punishment, the judge ordered.  The trial was for Grammy-winning artist Young Thug, accused of using his YSL music label for racketeering and gang conspiracy. 

THE DEAL

Wheelin' and dealin' today's corporate news

WWE followup.  WWE announced that it retained Kirkland & Ellis as an adviser as it conducts a strategic review of its business, in the face of denied sale rumors, leadership changes and litigation.  

Nationalized oil.  ConocoPhillips is reportedly in talks with Venezuela's national oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA to load, transport and sell the country's oil in the US after the country seized $10 billion worth of its assets in 2007.

EV M&A.  Smart mobility company Apollo Future Mobility Group (not associated with Apollo Global Management, the PE firm) agreed to purchase Chinese EV maker WM Motor for $2.02 billion, allowing WM Motor to go public in Hong Kong.  

Beast for sale.  Barry Diller’s IAC is reportedly exploring a sale of The Daily Beast, the online news publication he helped found in 2008.  A potential sale price has not yet been made public.  

German IPO.  United Internet’s web-hosting unit Ionos Group is planning to launch its IPO as soon as next week, listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.  Ionos reportedly may reach a valuation as high as $5.4 billion via the IPO.  

BUSINESS OF THE FIRM

Lateral Moves: 

• Morgan Lewis hired David Howard, previously Microsoft's corporate VP and deputy GC for litigation, competition law and compliance.

• Harvard Law's Laurence Tribe, the renowned constitutional law scholar, joined Kaplan Hecker as Of Counsel.

• Lawyers Mark Pomerantz, Carey Dunne and Michele Roberts launched a new nonprofit law firm called the Free and Fair Litigation Group, which is aimed at taking up cases to fight what it called a "new authoritarian threat to our democracy and individual rights."

• Foley & Lardner hired partner Jon Lyman from Pillsbury Winthrop.

Industry News:

• Slaughter and May is making its "bring your dog to work day" perk a permanent monthly event as a morale boost and stress alleviator.

• Data from Firm Prospects LLC identified that the last quarter of 2022 experienced 6% fewer lateral hires than the same period during 2021, a trend that is likely to continue after extensive lateral hiring the year prior.

• Still waiting on your bonus? Check out the Lookzy Reverse Bonus Tracker to see who else is left to announce.

BOILERPLATE

If reading this email made you feel the same way as your bonus hitting your bank account, share with a friend.  

Alright, back to billing.  That's all, folks!