Large Firm

Bankruptcy co-chairs leap from Cadwalader to O’Melveny, along with another partner

Three bankruptcy partners from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, including the co-chairs of the practice group, are headed to O’Melveny & Myers. In a Tuesday announcement, O’Melveny said that co-chairs John J. Rapisarsdi and George A. Davis would serve in the same role at their new firm, working out of its…

May 7, 2013 8:29 PM CDT

Australia’s publicly traded Slater & Gordon raising $64M to buy more UK personal injury firms

In its continuing drive to dominate the global personal injury and consumer legal market, Slater & Gordon is raising $63.9 million to expand its British personal injury practice. The plaintiff megafirm has struck deals to buy three United Kingdom law firms at a total cost of about $35 million, according…

May 7, 2013 6:15 PM CDT

6 more lawyers to exit Ogletree for Littler, join ex-partner who sent ‘scathing’ email to Ogletree

After an unusual high-profile dispute between a former partner of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart and the firm, another six lawyers are expected to leave the international labor and employment boutique Monday to join competitor Littler Mendelson, their new firm has announced. Within the last two weeks, another seven…

May 6, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

Partner profits rise as law firms cut equity partners, statistics confirm

A decade of statistics confirm that America’s top law firms are shrinking their proportion of equity partners relative to overall lawyers, and the cuts are often improving profits per partner. The American Lawyer analyzed the numbers for 97 law firms in the top 100 for 2012 that were also among…

May 6, 2013 1:34 PM CDT

Partners ahoy! DLA Piper charters cruise ship for meeting

DLA Piper’s partners are meeting in style this month on a chartered cruise ship sailing from Barcelona to Nice. DLA Piper is the world’s largest law firm, by revenue and lawyers. Its four-night partner excursion will take place on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas, the Washingtonian reports in a…

May 6, 2013 10:40 AM CDT

Era of great expectations for BigLaw ended with bankruptcy of Howrey, Dewey and others, say experts

A death-knell for the era of great expectations for BigLaw firms has been sounded by the bankruptcies of, among others, Howrey; Heller Ehrman; Thelen; and last year’s record-breaking Chapter 11 filing by Dewey & LeBoeuf, experts say. They predict further law firm failures and a move toward smaller, less cumbersome…

May 3, 2013 2:53 PM CDT

SEC reportedly subpoenas information from Greenberg Traurig and a lobbyist

The Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly issued subpoenas to Greenberg Traurig as the agency seeks more information about an investor alert issued by one of the law firm’s clients, a stock brokerage. Several anonymous sources told the Washington Post that the SEC subpoenaed Greenberg Traurig; one of its health-care…

May 2, 2013 12:50 PM CDT

Former Dewey chairman may not have to pay entire $511K settlement; it depends on his income

Former Dewey & LeBoeuf chairman Steven Davis is getting some leeway in a proposed $511,000 settlement related to the law firm’s collapse. The proposed agreement to settle a mismanagement claim gives Davis six years to pay the money, and it’s contingent on his earnings, the Am Law Daily reports. Davis…

May 1, 2013 1:43 PM CDT

BigLaw partner sent ‘scathing’ exit email defending recruit to colleagues, clients

Updated: In a highly unusual public criticism of his now-former law firm, a partner of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart complained to colleagues and clients in an email as he exited in March about what he called a “completely unacceptable” response to a female shareholder’s complaint that she had…

May 1, 2013 1:32 PM CDT

Greenberg Traurig agrees to settle suit claiming it contributed to ‘chaotic’ Heller wind down

Greenberg Traurig has agreed to pay $4.9 million to settle a suit claiming the firm contributed to a “chaotic” wind down of Heller Ehrman. The deal still needs the approval of a bankruptcy judge, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.) reports. Greenberg Traurig spokeswoman Jill Perry told the…

Apr 30, 2013 1:34 PM CDT

Katten Muchin opens new Houston office with Pillsbury enviro leader, hires 7 more lawyers in Texas

The leader of the environmental practice group at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman is leaving the firm to open a new Houston office for Katten Muchin Rosenman. Mark Farley will be in charge of a five-lawyer Houston office, serve as a co-chair of his new firm’s environmental practice and lead its…

Apr 29, 2013 9:19 PM CDT

Enjoying your BigLaw job? You may be an odd duck, and that’s OK, psychologist says

About 96 percent of the BigLaw lawyers seeking help from psychotherapist Will Meyerhofer are seeking a way out. Then there are the 4 percent who like BigLaw practice. “I don’t want to exaggerate the phenomenon,” Meyerhofer writes at the People’s Therapist, “but there are folks who actually ‘fit in’ in…

Apr 29, 2013 11:30 AM CDT

Am Law 100 firms make modest gains in revenue and profits: Is the legal market recovering?

Am Law 100 law firms overall had low single-digit year-over-year increases in all major metrics, the American Lawyer magazine reported in its annual survey. Gross revenue was up 3.4 percent, average revenue per lawyer was up 2.6 percent, and average profits per partner were up 4.2 percent, American Lawyer reported.…

Apr 25, 2013 11:38 PM CDT

Plan to have Kaye Scholer give up $1.5M in fees to settle disclosure case is withdrawn

A planned settlement of a case over lack of disclosure by a law firm and others in a corporate bankruptcy case has been withdrawn without explanation by the feds. The settlement would have required Kaye Scholer to forgo $1.5 million in attorney fees in a Chapter 11 case and have…

Apr 25, 2013 3:58 PM CDT

With up to 20% of Am Law 200 ‘badly weakened,’ will more firms fail? (video)

A substantial percentage of the nation’s largest law firms enter the sixth year of the Great Recession “badly weakened,” and more firms are expected to fail, according to law firm consultant Kent Zimmermann of the Zeughauser Group. Their problems boil down to “too many attorneys for too little work,” he…

Apr 25, 2013 2:27 PM CDT