Report: Calif. Offices of Dewey & LeBoeuf to Close on May 15; Group of 11 Lawyers Forms IP Boutique
The California offices of Dewey & LeBoeuf will be closing by May 15, a local legal news publication is reporting.
The Recorder (sub. req.), is also reporting that an 11-lawyer intellectual property group will be leaving the firm’s San Francisco office to form an IP boutique. It will be headed by partners Henry Bunsow and Denise DeMory.
The Los Angeles office also will be closing by the same day, reports the San Francisco Business Times, relying on information from the Recorder.
A month ago, Dewey had 39 attorneys in its San Francisco and East Palo Alto offices, the Business Times notes.
The firm’s website presently lists 27 lawyers in those offices; however, it appears that this tally may include the 11-lawyer contingent about to form an IP boutique—both Bunsow and DeMory are among those listed as Dewey members.
As detailed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, the firm is teetering on the brink of collapse with, at last report, over 150 of its 300 or so partners exiting in 2012. Support staff has been laid off, a number of associates in New York have been told that their last day of work at the firm will be May 15, and the firm’s international offices are either closing or defecting to other law firms.
Related coverage:
As Top Leaders Join Winston & Strawn and O’Melveny, the Collapse of Dewey & LeBoeuf Appears Imminent
