Heller Partners Reportedly Told Dissolution is Possible
Partners at Heller Ehrman were told in a meeting yesterday that the law firm is considering dissolution, anonymous sources told the Recorder.
The firm hasn’t voted on the issue, but industry watchers said it may be the only alternative. Partners were told it was understood they would be looking for new jobs, an action that many are already taking, the story says. About 50 partners have already left the firm this year or announced plans to do so.
Recruiters told the Recorder that senior partners should have no problem finding homes at other firms but the job hunt could be more difficult for more junior partners, associates and staffers, given the difficult economy. A new blog started by a person identified only as “Heller Drone” gives employees a place to vent and offers suggestions.
Baker & McKenzie has called off merger talks with Heller, but it is “making a play for big chunks of the firm,” the Recorder story says, citing a legal recruiter as the source. Other law firms are talking to some of the firm’s practice groups, the story says.
At least two partners are moving to the San Francisco office of Jones Day, including Brent Cohen, the head of Heller’s 30-lawyer real estate finance group.
The Daily Journal has reported that up to 40 of the firm’s intellectual property lawyers plan to leave the firm; the Recorder puts the number of IP partners leaving at 14 and includes the group in its tally of 50 some partners who have left the firm. Both publications say Covington & Burling is hiring the 14 lawyers.
Updated at 12:10 p.m. to clarify that 50 partners have left Heller.
