Retired Dewey Partners Say Judge’s Fast-Track Clawback OK ‘Adds Insult to Injury,’ May Appeal

Accused in a Tuesday opinion by a federal bankruptcy judge of seeking an independent examiner merely as a litigation tactic, a committee of retired partners of Dewey & LeBoeuf say the claim they acted improperly by doing so in the law firm’s massive Chapter 11 case “adds insult to injury.”…

Oct 10, 2012 6:35 PM CDT

Judge OKs $71.5M Settlement with Ex-Partners of Dewey

Only a little more than four months after Dewey & LeBoeuf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court in Manhattan at the end of May, some 400 former partners of the once-storied law firm have agreed to give up part of their 2011 and 2012 pay in exchange for…

Oct 9, 2012 10:46 PM CDT

Hearsay: Short Takes and Fast Facts on the Law

Oct 1, 2012 8:10 AM CDT

Pa. Bankruptcy Lawyer Shot in Home-Invasion Robbery by Masked Suspects

A longtime bankruptcy lawyer was shot multiple times Monday night in a struggle during a home-invasion robbery in his Pennsbury, Pa., home, state police said. Fred Barakat, 63, is expected to survive, according to the Journal Register and NBC 10 Philadelphia. He practices both in Pennsylvania and nearby Delaware, using…

Sep 25, 2012 3:31 PM CDT

Ill. Lawyer Accused of Falsifying Tax Docs for Loan Forbearance and Buying a New Car

An Illinois lawyer, accused of using his bankruptcy clients’ credit cards and directing an employee to create false tax returns so he could avoid student loan payments and buy a new car, has been arrested on federal fraud and obstruction charges, the Chicago Tribune reports. Bradley F. Aubel’s former employee,…

Sep 24, 2012 10:15 AM CDT

Names of Former Dewey Partners Contributing to Bankruptcy Settlement Have Been Released

Dewey & LeBoeuf bankruptcy advisers released a list in a Thursday court filing detailing what former partners agreed to contribute for a proposed settlement with the estate, the AmLaw Daily reports. According to the filing (PDF), the top three contributors are securities lawyer Ralph C. Ferrara, now a Proskauer Rose…

Sep 21, 2012 6:12 PM CDT

Group of Ex-Howrey Lawyers Ready to Fight Clawback Claims on Ground They Weren’t Really Partners

A lawyer representing about 60 former contract attorneys and nonequity partners at Howrey says they weren’t really partners. Cecily Dumas, a partner at Dumas & Clark, notified the federal bankruptcy court in San Francisco of her representation in a court filing on Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal blog…

Sep 19, 2012 3:00 PM CDT

Dewey Estate Seeks to Pay $165K Bonus to Firm’s Onetime Finance Director

Dewey & LeBoeuf’s chief restructuring officer is seeking to pay bonuses to three former employees helping in the wind down, including a $165,000 payment to the firm’s former finance director. A court filing last week seeks that amount for Frank Canellas, along with $50,000 for the firm’s former director of…

Sep 18, 2012 12:10 PM CDT

Proposed $71M Dewey Clawback Deal Gives Nod to Jones Day Partners’ Fraud Claims

In the latest development in a proposed $71 million plan to claw back some profits from former partners of the failed Dewey & LeBoeuf law firm, those in charge of the deal have agreed to give four high-profile bankruptcy lawyers leeway to pursue fraud claims against their former firm. The…

Sep 17, 2012 11:05 PM CDT

Citibank Says It Had No Duty to Warn Ex-Partner About Dewey Finances

Sued by Citibank for defaulting on a $209,000 loan he used to finance his capital contribution to Dewey & LeBoeuf, a former partner of the defunct law firm last month fired back in a federal court motion seeking summary judgment and claiming fraudulent inducement. Citibank, ex-partner Steven Otillar contends, helped…

Sep 17, 2012 5:52 PM CDT

Disbarred Lawyer Scott Rothstein’s Wife Charged with Trying to Keep Feds From Seizing $1M in Jewelry

Kimberly Wendell Rothstein had nothing to do with the $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme orchestrated by her husband, disbarred Florida attorney Scott Rothstein, her lawyer says. But the 38-year-old does take “full responsibility,” states attorney David K. Tucker, for her actions related to the federal obstruction conspiracy case announced last week…

Sep 10, 2012 4:10 PM CDT

Federal Judge Says Calif. Law Allows Clawback Claims Against Ex-Thelen Partners But NY Law Doesn’t

In a ruling that could affect former partners of other failed law firms, a federal judge in New York held Tuesday that a bankruptcy trustee can pursue clawback claims against some but not all of Thelen’s former partners. Drawing a distinction between what is permitted under California and New York…

Sep 4, 2012 10:31 PM CDT

Dewey Advisers Ask Court to Approve Partner Settlement in Flurry of Filings

In an effort to resolve the high-profile bankruptcy of Dewey & LeBoeuf, the firm’s advisers filed a flurry of motions Wednesday that requested court approval for a proposed $89 million settlement. The formula presented in the filings requests money from 670 former partners in exchange for a waiver of Dewey-related…

Aug 30, 2012 11:15 PM CDT

Forklift Accident Sets Off Chain of Destruction That Delays Howrey Wind-Down

A bankruptcy trustee says a fatal forklift accident at a Washington, D.C.-area warehouse is delaying the wind-down of Howrey. In a report (PDF) filed Monday in bankruptcy court in the Northern District of California, trustee Allan B. Diamond says a chain of destruction resulted when a forklift hit a storage…

Aug 21, 2012 8:34 PM CDT

US Trustees at Odds with Reorganizing Companies and Lawyers Seeking Big Fees

Companies seeking Chapter 11 protection are increasingly at odds with the Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program, particularly on issues of venue and executive bonuses. The director of the program, Clifford White III, has become an activist in policing Chapter 11 cases, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. “Restructuring professionals…

Aug 20, 2012 2:42 PM CDT