Heller’s San Francisco MP Says ‘Orderly Wind-Down’ in Progress
A managing partner of Heller Ehrman tells the Recorder that the firm is beginning an “orderly wind-down.”
Leslie Corwin of Greenberg Traurig will serve as the firm’s dissolution counsel and four Heller partners will lead the dissolution committee, according to San Francisco managing partner Barry Levin.
A partnership vote on Friday had not been counted in time for the deadlines of the Recorder or the Daily Journal (sub. req.), but the Recorder said it was all but certain to be in favor of dissolution. Staff and associates have received a federally required notice of expected layoffs that says the firm will shut down around Nov. 28, the Daily Journal story says. All employees will be paid full salary and benefits until the shutdown, according to the notice.
A law firm consultant told the Daily Journal that shareholders in the firm will be unlikely to recover the balances in their capital accounts, unless new firms that hire them are willing to pay some of the value. A source told the publication that some of the firm’s troubles with bank financing began earlier this month when 14 intellectual property partners left the firm. The departure left the Heller with fewer partners than allowed in its agreement with the bank, giving it the right to demand immediate repayment.
