Brendan Sullivan. Photograph by Vincent Ricardel.

Everyone in the Washington area who rides the Metro has an escalator story, and generally it’s about them not working. Brendan Sullivan, senior partner at the law firm Williams & Connolly, is no different—except for what he does when they are working.

The Williams & Connolly building is located at 12th and G Streets, Northwest, above the Metro Center station. More than 600 employees work for the firm, many of them commuters. Sullivan says, “We’ve been here ten years, and the escalators have been broken 80 percent of the time. There’s always one working, but only one. It’s pathetic how often they’re broken.” He says the firm has complained “hundreds of times.” In fact, Williams & Connolly has staffers who keep track of the breakdowns.

But Sullivan says a “miracle” happened this week: Both escalators were running—one up, one down. How did he mark the occasion? He sent a $100 bouquet of flowers to Richard Sarles, the general manager and CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. An accompanying letter said, “Williams & Connolly thanks you and your team. This week marks the first time since June 2011 in which both escalators are working at the same time, up and down.”

We tried to get a comment from Sarles, and phoned the WMATA main number three times, but each time, after dozens of rings, there was no answer.

Update: Friday afternoon, we heard from Dan Stessel, director of communications for WMATA. He said, “If this sparks a trend, it’ll be a boon for florists in town with all the work we’re doing fixing and replacing escalators.” Bold words to put out there. He added, “We’re glad to see good work get noticed."

Alas, WMATA did not accept Sullivan’s flowers due to a “no-gift” policy.

Photograph courtesy of Ivanka Trump.

The Trump Organization scored a big win this week when it was chosen to redevelop the historic Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue. The late-19th-century building and clock tower were last redeveloped in the 1980s. The architect at that time was Arthur Cotton Moore, who is also the architect for Trump. What it will mean to Pennsylvania Avenue is another mixed-use development, similar to the J.W. Marriott hotel complex and joining the also historic Willard Hotel and the W, which for decades was the Hotel Washington.

Photograph by Jeff Martin.

It’s a keeper of a Washington party when the after-dinner band is soulful and kicking it, the publisher of the Washington Post is among those dirty dancing, and your dinner partner reveals she’s bucking to become one of the city’s first weed merchants. We expected nothing less from the annual Kennedy Center gala for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. For 13 years it has maintained a standard of beguiling fun. Before dinner there was sensational dancing on the stage of the Opera House and, after dinner, a dancing sensation among the more than 800 rollicking guests.

The evening began at 7 PM with the sold-out show. Tickets for the benefit started at $500 and went up to $25,000. The acclaimed New York–based troupe performed “Arden Court,” “Home,” “Takademe,” and “Revelations.” First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters, Malia and Sasha, were in the audience, though they stayed pretty much in their box and did not linger for the after-dinner hoopla. It was a school night, after all, but also, notably, the first time Mrs. Obama has attended the event as First Lady.

As soon as the show was over, guests in black-tie attire filed along the red carpets before ducking into the elevators to get up to the roof, where they were instantly and irresistibly put in a dancing mood by the horn section and the soaring voices of Free Spirit. Many hit the dance floor before heading to their assigned tables for dinner. Just as the meal was served, Alvin Ailey artist director Robert Battle led his dancers through the three rooms, in a procession of physical beauty and grace that left us mere Washington mortals breathless, picking at our salads and wondering if we should eschew the beef and have the salmon instead, or maybe just fast.

Defense lawyer Neil Eggleston has joined Kirkland & Ellis as a partner. Photograph courtesy of Kirkland & Ellis.

While the past few weeks have been dominated by moves from government into private practice, this week we’ve got lots of lawyers jumping from one firm to another.

Top white-collar defense lawyer W. Neil Eggleston has landed at Kirkland & Ellis as a partner. He was previously a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton. Eggleston has represented many high-profile clients, including former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel in the prosecution of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Eggleston also served in the White House counsel’s office under President Bill Clinton.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has brought on a new co-managing partner for its Washington office: Bill Burck, who came from Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Burck’s practice includes both complex domestic and international disputes, and white-collar criminal work. He will also practice out of the firm’s New York office.

David McIndoe and R. Michael Sweeney Jr., previously co-heads of the commodities trading group at Hunton & Williams, have joined Sutherland Asbill & Brennan as partners.

Steptoe & Johnson welcomed Edward Schwartz and Andrew Lee as partners in its global antitrust and competition practice. Schwartz joined from Shearman & Sterling, and Lee came from White & Case.

Photograph by Christopher Leaman.

The past 36 hours have been a total whirlwind for Ted Olson. After receiving word that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals would issue its ruling Tuesday morning in the Prop 8 case, Olson—one of the lead lawyers in the fight to get the 9th Circuit to deem California’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional—flew from Washington to San Francisco Monday night. He was at the court Tuesday at 10 AM when the decision was issued: a victory for Olson and co-counsel David Boies, along with the same-sex couples they represent. From that point on, Olson’s day was dominated by demands from the press, including an appearance on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show last night. He then boarded a plane at 11 PM and landed back in Washington this morning. After a quick stop at home for a shower and a change of clothes, he headed back to his Farragut North office at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

“My job today is to keep my eyes open,” he says.

Olson, one of the country’s best Supreme Court lawyers and former solicitor general during the George W. Bush administration, has never been shy about the fact that he hoped to eventually argue the Prop 8 case at his favorite venue—the US Supreme Court. But the narrowly tailored wording of the California appellate court decision has left many court watchers speculating that the justices will not take up the case as most had expected. The 9th Circuit worded its opinion to apply specifically to the circumstances in California, where same-sex marriage was first legalized and then stricken down again by a voter-approved ban. Because the ruling is not applicable to the entire country, the Supreme Court may be less likely to take the case.

Raju Narisetti was so important to the Washington Post he’s irreplaceable. Reading between the lines, one gets that sense from the memo that went out today from Washington Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli.

“With Raju’s departure,” Brauchli wrote, “we want to designate some people to pick up critical duties that he handled, at least on a temporary basis.”

The memo goes on to name about a dozen people and their “teams” to handle the tasks left undone when Narisetti left this month for the Wall Street Journal. Brauchli hand picked Narisetti to split managing editor duties with Liz Spayd. He’s handled the Post’s digital side since 2009.

The big winners in the post-Narisetti age are Sandy Sugawara and Katharine Zaleski.

Sugawara, who’s been at the Post for decades, began as a beat writer, moved up to become top business editor and, recently, editor of the universal desk. In her broadened role, she and her team will control the play and timing of news across the print and digital pages. Brauchli demands, “When they come looking for news, please work with them to ensure we’re moving fast, either with staff or wire content.”

Zaleski came to the Post from Huffington Post in 2009 to help spread Post stories across social media networks. She’s now executive director of digital news. Post-Narisetti, Brauchli says she “will be the primary contact for all matters pertaining to digital traffic and engagement. . . .” And she will report directly to Brauchli.

As for Narisetti, he will manage digital networks for the Wall Street Journal, where he and Brauchli both once worked.

At this point, no editors to replace him have surfaced, but Sugawara and Zaleski could be prime candidates.