Eugene Scalia Eugene Scalia. Photo: ALM

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

Given his remarkable success over the years using the courts to rein in regulation and intercede in the rule-making process in Washington, Eugene Scalia seems poised to leave a big mark if he's confirmed as U.S. Labor secretary.

But his nomination to the post also has major implications for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where Scalia co-leads the firm's administrative law and regulatory practice group, formerly co-chaired the labor practice and has attracted a steady stream of engagements on behalf of clients ranging from Ford and Boeing to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and major financial industry trade groups.

If confirmed, his appointment would also have an unavoidable impact on another Scalia: John Scalia, a Greenberg Traurig partner in Northern Virginia who also practices labor and employment law—including in matters before the U.S. Department of Labor.

President Donald Trump explained his choice for R. Alexander Acosta's replacement Thursday night, tweeting, “Gene has led a life of great success in the legal and labor field and is highly respected not only as a lawyer, but as a lawyer with great experience … working with labor and everyone else.”

Scalia was previously a solicitor of labor in President George W. Bush's administration—installed by recess appointment after a Democratic-controlled Senate did not confirm his nomination by a Republican president—before becoming co-chair of Gibson Dunn's administrative law and regulatory practice group, which he chaired for 12 years.

Scalia's co-chair in that practice, Helgi Walker, had no comment on how his departure would affect management of the group or its business, for good or for ill. But it is clear it would be felt within the administrative law and regulatory team and beyond. In addition to the labor and employment group he once led, Scalia was also a member of Gibson Dunn's appellate and constitutional law practice group and has served on the firm's executive committee and partnership evaluation committee.

Jason Schwartz, who currently co-chairs the firm's labor and employment group, praised Scalia while also emphasizing the strength of the employment practice he would leave behind.

“We have a deep and talented bench that he has played a key role in building, but he'll most certainly be missed,” Schwartz wrote in response to a request for comment. “Gene is ridiculously smart, a person of great integrity, and a wonderful partner and friend who I deeply respect and admire. I have no doubt he will be a terrific leader of the Labor Department.”

Scalia's exit would also be of keen interest to Greenberg Traurig. John Scalia, one of Eugene's younger brothers, returned to Greenberg Traurig last month after about six years in the labor and employment practices at Littler Mendelson and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

Neither John Scalia nor Greenberg Traurig was immediately available to comment, but his firm biography notes that in addition to representing employers in federal and state courts, he “practices regularly” before the Department of Labor and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as handling matters before the National Labor Relations Board and the National Mediation Board.

Having a family member in a prominent governmental position is nothing new for the Scalia brothers, given their late father Justice Antonin Scalia's tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court. The two are also hardly alone in carrying forward their father's legacy in Washington and in the legal community. The Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, based in Arlington, Virginia, has two courses this summer taught by sitting Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Christopher Scalia, another brother, is a prolific author who's published two books in three years on his father's work in the law and Christian faith.

Law Firm Moves, News and Notes

Nossaman said this week it added Michael Stroud and William Powers as partners in the firm's public policy practice group in Washington, D.C.

Stroud was previously vice president and general counsel at Federal Advocates Inc., and Powers was formerly founder of the political law practice group at Rubin and Rudman, according to Nossaman.

Winston & Strawn said this week it added Laura M. Kidd Cordova as a partner in Washington.

Cordova is joining the firm's white-collar, regulatory defense and investigations group from Crowell & Moring. Cordova was a partner at Crowell since 2017, after leaving the fraud section of the U.S. Department of Justice's criminal division.

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer lured Michael McGill away from Hogan Lovells.

McGill, now a partner in the government contracts group at Arnold & Porter, spent nearly 17 years at Hogan Lovells before making the move.

Murphy & McGonigle said this week it added Thomas Ferrigno as a shareholder.

He joined the midsize firm in D.C. after a relatively short stay at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough and is a former chief counsel of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's division of enforcement. He said in an email he found the firm's “momentum” and attention to financial services regulation and litigation attractive.

Perkins Coie added Seth Borden in Washington, D.C., from McGuireWoods.

Borden is a partner and veteran labor lawyer whose work focuses on arbitrations and negotiating collective bargaining agreements for employers.

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman poached K&L Gates IP lawyer Eric Rusnak.

Rusnak spent more than 15 years at K&L Gates and was a practice group coordinator for the firm's IP litigation practice.