Autumn arrives on the Potomac River. Andrei Medvedev/Shutterstock.com

Washington Wrap is a weekly look at the biggest legal industry news and Big Law moves shaping the legal business in Washington, D.C. Send tips and lateral moves to Ryan Lovelace at [email protected].

Founders' firms keep springing up where the Founding Fathers lived.

The arrival of fall in Washington, D.C., has brought news of several Big Law ex-pats forming their own solo or boutique firms, leaving behind partnerships at Baker Botts, Covington & Burling and Kirkland & Ellis.

Joanna Ritcey-Donohue, who left Kirkland partnership over the summer, launched a solo practice providing “concierge-level service for clients” on matters involving cross-border risk and compliance issues. After breaking away from Kirkland to form JRD Law, Ritcey-Donohue said her work is “almost like being an in-house counsel on your specialty area.”

Earlier this month, Covington partner Caroline Brown and special counsel Philip Peisch decamped to form their own firm, Brown & Peisch. Their specialty is federally funded health and benefit programs and other assistance programs, and the pair's clients include public agencies and consulting firms.

“Covington is an exceptional place, and it is not easy to leave,” they wrote in a LinkedIn statement about the departure, adding that they were ”excited about transferring its standards of excellence and collegiality from the big firm context into our new firm.” Brown was formerly co-chairwoman of Covington's health care industry practice and chairwoman of its federal-state programs practice.

Meanwhile, partner Jeff Munk left Baker Botts, where he worked for five years lobbying Congress and the federal government, to hang his own shingle as Munk Policy & Law. Munk spent more than 15 years at Hogan Lovells before joining Baker Botts.

Whether because of inflexible large firm billing rates, conflicts concerns, or a desire to have more control over their practices and their work-life balance, we expect more Big Law castaways to go it alone before the season is through.

Law Firm Moves, News and Notes

The capital learned this week that Pat Cipollone, named partner at Stein Mitchell Cipollone Beato & Missner, will replace Donald McGahn II as White House counsel.

McGahn, a former Jones Day partner, isn't the only member of the McGahn household on the move. Wife Shannon McGahn started this month as senior vice president of government affairs for the National Association of Realtors. She is the first woman in the association's 110-year history to hold that title.

McGahn and Jones Day have yet to confirm whether he'll return to the firm.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings this week on Williams & Connolly partner Allison Jones Rushing's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Only two senators presided at Wednesday's hearing: Republican Sens. John Kennedy of Louisiana and Orrin Hatch of Utah. Kennedy scrutinized Rushing's “life experience,” while Hatch offered praise for her and her firm, Williams & Connolly, which he praised as “one of the great law firms in this country.” Fellow Williams & Connolly partner Kannon Shanmugam, who could soon find himself in a similar spot, attended Rushing's hearing to show his support.

David Barlow, former U.S. attorney for the District of Utah, left Walmart for Dorsey & Whitney. Barlow, who was vice president at Walmart, is working from his new firm's Salt Lake City office while also maintaining an “as-needed” presence in Washington. He is partner in Dorsey's trial group and government enforcement and corporate investigations practice group.

He previously was partner at Sidley Austin for more than a decade and was chief counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, in 2011 before becoming a U.S. attorney. His family's desire to move back to Utah prompted him to join Dorsey, he said. Dorsey's Utah presence has grown substantially in recent months, as the firm said its Salt Lake City office has added close to 30 lawyers in the preceding 18 months.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher quit lobbying on behalf of Saudi Arabia this week, following the disappearance and rumored killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Theodore Olson Jr. and two other lawyers had represented the Saudis on a $250,000 flat-fee lobbying contract.

Alston & Bird added Kevin Minoli to the firm's environmental practice as a partner in Washington, D.C.

Minoli moved to Alston & Bird from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he spent more than 18 years. Minoli most recently was principal deputy general counsel at EPA and previously held the title of acting general counsel.

John Mott has joined JAMS after more than 18 years as judge for the District of Columbia Superior Court.

Mott will work in Washington for JAMS as a mediator, arbitrator, special master, and neutral case evaluator on all manner of disputes.

King & Spalding's data, privacy and security team added two more partners this week, Robert Hudock and Adam Solander, from Epstein Becker & Green.

The two newest partners come after last week's return of Scott Ferber, a former counsel for cyber investigations at the U.S. Justice Department's National Security Division.