Perkins Coie Says It Won’t Hire New Partner After All
Last Wednesday, Perkins Coie announced with some fanfare that politically connected Denver lawyer Willie Shepherd was leaving the firm he co-founded and chaired to become a partner in Perkins Coie’s Denver office.
Never mind. Late on Friday, Perkins Coie issued a press release saying Shepherd won’t be joining the firm after all.
At the time of the original announcement, Denver managing partner Robert Miller of Perkins Coie said in a statement that the firm will benefit from Shepherd’s “legal acumen, extensive experience and notable community involvement,” according to a report in the Denver Business Journal.
Shepherd told the Denver Post in its story on the partner announcement that his departure from Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert was a mutual decision, and he declined to comment on the details of a private ethics complaint pending against him.
Two days later, Perkins Coie announced Shepherd won’t be coming on board in this press release: “Perkins Coie and Willie E. Shepherd will not proceed with the previously announced agreement for Mr. Shepherd to join the firm. The Perkins Coie offer was subject to a number of conditions, some of which could not be satisfied. As a result, Perkins Coie and Mr. Shepherd have agreed to terminate discussions and thus allow Mr. Shepherd to immediately pursue other opportunities.”
The Denver Post and the Denver Business Journal carried news of the about-face. The Business Journal says Shepherd helped bring the Democratic National Convention to Denver and was a member of Barack Obama’s national finance committee when he was running for president.
