Many Bear Stearns Lawyers Jump to Law Firms
Several lawyers at Bear Stearns have landed at major law firms after the takeover of the investment bank by JPMorgan Chase.
The law firms are seeking the lawyers’ industry contacts as well as their experience, the National Law Journal reports. The publication lists these lawyers as among those making the jump:
• Gary Distell, former lead equity group attorney, to Katten Muchin Rosenman.
• David Strumeyer, former head of the legal and compliance department, to Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he will be executive director.
• Julie Richard to Venable.
• Kenneth Kopelman and Gerald Russello to Bingham McCutchen.
Law firms offer better job security and good pay, the NLJ story says. Many top Bear Stearns lawyers had been compensated partly in stock and stock options that lost much of their value after the merger.
“It’s like a port in the storm right now,” said one former Bear Stearns lawyer.
Meanwhile, former Bear Stearns general counsel Michael Solender is now the chief legal officer at Washington Mutual Inc.
