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:

• The campaign against S&C as FTX bankruptcy counsel

• SCOTUS couldn't find the Dobbs leaker

• Orrick is merging with another firm

• A new, "skills-based" bar exam on the horizon

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THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST S&C

Sullivan & Cromwell has been representing the collapsed crypto exchange FTX in its bankruptcy, but as proceedings continue, the campaign against S&C has become significantly more vocal and aggressive.

Today, hearings are set to take place which will lead to bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey making a final decision as to whether S&C is approved or rejected as serving as debtor's counsel. A late-breaking declaration by former FTX Chief Compliance Officer Daniel Friedberg piled additional attacks on S&C's competence and objectivity as counsel.

Friedberg, who prior to FTX and a stint at Fenwick served as counsel to a gambling company involved in a large online poker scandal, claimed that:

• FTX GC Ryne Miller, a former S&C partner, forced FTX US into bankruptcy in the US against Friedberg's and Sam Bankman-Fried's advice so that S&C would have work and because FTX US was the only entity with cash to pay S&C

• Miller tried to "channel a lot of business to S&C" and "looked forward to returning as a partner to S&C" after his stint at FTX

• S&C lied about not serving as primary outside counsel to FTX

• S&C ignored conflicts of interests in some of FTX's and Alameda's past transactions, such as its BlockFi investment

Sam Bankman-Fried, the FTX founder and CEO currently awaiting trial, has made similar attacks on S&C in Substack posts, on Twitter and in draft Congressional testimony, including items such as the below screenshot.

That said, Judge Dorsey has so far appeared fine with S&C's work in the bankruptcy. We previously reported a letter four senators wrote to Judge Dorsey, similarly questioning S&C in this bankruptcy, which Judge Dorsey promptly ignored and called inappropriate.

ECON SNAPSHOT

The difference between special bonuses and layoffs

THE VERDICT

Arguing today's litigation news

Can't find the leak. The Supreme Court announced that its internal investigation into the unprecedented leak of the draft abortion ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health has been "unable to identify a person responsible by a preponderance of the evidence." The report shows that 80 people had access to the draft.

Involuntary manslaughter. New Mexico prosecutors announced that Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of a cinematographer of the movie "Rust", who was killed when a prop firearm Baldwin was shooting for filming fired a live round. Simple involuntary manslaughter for negligence is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine. Should prosecutors prove there was more than simple negligence involved in the use of a firearm, Baldwin and the individual who loaded the gun, who was also charged, could face a five-year jail term.

Big deposition. NewsCorp Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch is scheduled to be deposed in a $1.6 billion defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox regarding false claims about the 2020 election amplified by Fox News.

737 MAX. US District Judge Reed O'Connor ordered Boeing to appear in court next week to be arraigned on a 2021 felony fraud conspiracy charge related to the 737 MAX's flawed design after families of those killed in two fatal crashes objected to a prior plea deal.

Crypto enforcement. The SEC announced that crypto firm Nexo Capital agreed to pay $45 million to settle charges that it failed to register its crypto asset lending product in violation of securities laws, in line with previous enforcement actions against crypto companies BlockFi and Genesis.

THE DEAL

Wheelin' and dealin' today's corporate news

7-Eleven in play. Hedge fund ValueAct Capital urged Seven & i Holdings shareholders to support their proposal to spin-off the convenience store chain 7-Eleven to improve returns. ValueAct currently owns 4.4% of Seven & i Holdings.

In-app purchase. Mobile gaming company Playtika Holding Corp increased its acquisition offer for Rovio, the maker of 'Angry Birds' to $810 million in cash, which the Rovio board is reportedly considering though negotiations have not yet commenced.

IPO prep. Legal software maker Exterro agreed to purchase e-discovery software provider Zapproved. PE-backed Exterro, which had previously hit a $1 billion valuation, also delayed its planned IPO from 2023 to 2024 given market conditions.

Texas two-step. Koch Industries received nearly $2.5 billion in dividend payments in 2022 from its Georgia-Pacific unit, which should have faced significant liability or even bankruptcy due to asbestos litigation. Instead, however, Georgia-Pacific formed a new Texas subsidiary called Bestwall, which took on the asbestos liability and declared bankruptcy three months later, a restructuring move called the "Texas two-step".

Vice sale. Vice Media is reportedly restarting its sale process, seeking up to a $1 billion valuation, after potential acquirers balked at the initial price. Vice Media was valued at $5.7 billion in 2017.

BUSINESS OF THE FIRM

Lateral Moves:

• King & Spalding hired partner Olivia Radin from Freshfields.

• Clifford Chance hired partner Jill Concannon Christie from White & Case.

• Goodwin hired partner Jacqueline Eaves from Kirkland.

• Andrea Kramer, formerly the financial products, trading and derivatives group lead at McDermott Will & Emery, left McDermott to start her own law firm based in Chicago.

Industry News:

• Law firm merger. Orrick and Buckley LLP agreed to merge, which will result in about 100 lawyers (including 35 Buckley partners) to join Orrick when the combination closes on February 1st. The combined firm will have more than 1,150 lawyers with nearly $1.5 billion in revenue. The merger appears designed to bring on Buckley's financial regulatory & enforcement advice to Orrick's existing litigation and transactional practices.

• New bar exam. The National Conference of Bar Examiners announced that a new version of the bar exam, dubbed the NextGen Bar, is expected to be introduced in July 2026. States will be able to choose whether to use the NextGen Bar, which focuses more on skills testing, or the current existing bar exam.

BOILERPLATE

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