Patton Boggs leader says any suggestion of bankruptcy issue is 'laughable'
Patton Boggs managing partner Edward Newberry says he won’t confirm or deny a report that the law firm has hired a bankruptcy and restructuring lawyer who advised Dewey & LeBoeuf before its collapse.
Anonymous sources told Reuters that Patton Boggs has hired restructuring lawyer Al Togut. Reuters contacted Newberry to confirm that Togut is advising Patton Boggs, and Newberry said he would neither confirm nor deny the report.
Newberry told Reuters it was “barking up the wrong tree” by asking about the matter. “The suggestion that bankruptcy is an issue is so far from the mark as to be laughable,” he said.
Patton Boggs is currently in merger talks with Squire Sanders. Patton Boggs recently confirmed it hired restructuring firm Zolfo Cooper, which is reviewing the firm’s financial organization.
The wire service points out that Patton Boggs may have hired Togut to help with a business restructuring. The law firm recently closed its New Jersey office and confirmed a drop in revenues last year of about 12 percent. Patton Boggs took another hit on Tuesday when a federal judge blocked collection of a $9.5 billion judgment by an Ecuadorian court in a pollution case against Chevron. Patton Boggs had worked with the plaintiffs seeking to collect the judgment and was to be paid on a contingency basis, according to the Washington Post.
