Wake Up Call: Buffalo Bills’ Top Lawyer Fired Over Relationship

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

• Buffalo Bills general counsel Kathryn D’Angelo was fired Wednesday for engaging in a relationship with John Roth, chief operating officer and executive vice president of the Bills and Buffalo Sabres hockey team, according to sources. Although D’Angelo reported to Bills and Sabres owner Terry Pegula, Roth, who also was let go, held “superior titles"—and had recommended her for promotion. (The Athletic)
• Troutman Pepper is creating a corporate espionage response team in an effort to help clients stop theft of their trade secrets and mitigate its impacts. The group was founded by commercial litigation partner Will Taylor of the firm’s Boston office and Atlanta-based labor and employment partner Evan Gibbs, and includes 14 partners. (Law.com)
• Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman helped achieve a “significant victory” for University of Kansas and men’s basketball coach Bill Self over a probe into alleged illicit payments to the families of players. The Independent Resolution Panel assigned to the matter on Wednesday found that allegations of rule violations by Self, the school, and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend were without merit. (Pillsbury)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• George Tsai has joined Polsinelli PC as a shareholder in the employee benefits and executive compensation practice in Denver, Colo.
• Daniel Rodgers has joined the financial services transactions group at Baker Donelson as a shareholder in New Orleans, La. He served as a partner at Watson Farley & Williams in New York.
• Julia E. Sanabria has joined Lowenstein Sandler as a partner with the real estate practice group in New York.
• Eric Ransom has rejoined Crowell & Moring as a partner in the government contracts group.
• Christian Hylton has joined the real estate group and land use and zoning practice at Pryor Cashman as a partner in New York. He served as a partner and co-chair of the land use and government relations practice at Phillips Nizer.
• Jenny Tran has joined Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth as a shareholder in the corporate and securities practice. She previously served as a partner at Brown & Streza.
• Jessica E. Bradley and Kenneth M. Jones have joined Saul Ewing as partners in Los Angeles.