Large Firm

Are BigLaw Expansions Unsustainable? Lawyer Representing Howrey Creditors Predicts Dissolutions

Howrey and Dewey & LeBoeuf are among several law firms that rapidly expanded in the 2000s. The Washington Post sets the scene and asks whether other firms will also crash and burn. “In its final years, Howrey snapped up large practice groups and entire firms at a breakneck pace, going…

May 14, 2012 2:39 PM CDT

Payback by Demoted Duo at Dewey; Partner Comp Ranged from $300K to $10M

When he led LeBoeuf & Lamb before its 2007 merger with Dewey Ballantine, Steven Davis had to confront a threat to his leadership. The co-chairs of LeBoeuf’s corporate department, Alexander Dye and John Schwolsky, were making a bid to replace Davis after he became convinced the firm needed to merge…

May 14, 2012 12:57 PM CDT

No Plans for Dissolution Vote or Bankruptcy at Dewey; Bienenstock Doesn’t Know Who Contacted DA

Dewey & LeBoeuf is apparently winding down its operations, but it still hasn’t taken a dissolution vote or filed for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy partner Martin Bienenstock, one of four lawyers overseeing Dewey amid the turmoil, doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to take the vote. And he hopes to avoid…

May 14, 2012 11:58 AM CDT

What Are Dewey & LeBoeuf Partner Guarantees Worth Now? Experts Say Maybe 10 Cents on Dollar, or Zip

More than 100 current and former partners of Dewey & LeBoeuf who reportedly had pay guarantees of up to $5 or $6 million annually aren’t doing so well now that the law firm appears to be on the verge of dissolving. Because partners are likely to be treated less favorably…

May 11, 2012 10:21 PM CDT

Dewey’s Bienenstock Is Reportedly Moving to Proskauer; He’s the Third Departing Manager

Dewey & LeBoeuf’s four-person management team was decimated this week. A third member of the four-person team—bankruptcy chief Martin Bienenstock—is reportedly leaving, report the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and the Wall Street Journal Law Blog. The stories rely on unnamed sources who say Bienenstock, a top rainmaker, is headed…

May 11, 2012 1:09 PM CDT

Report: Dewey Bond Offering Painted ‘Rosy Picture,’ Didn’t Disclose Partner Guarantees

Dewey & LeBoeuf was able to raise $125 million in a bond offering in March 2010 that touted the firm’s “strong financial condition and conservative debt profile.” The offering didn’t disclose pay guarantees used to lure and keep as many as 100 partners with the firm, according to the New…

May 11, 2012 12:05 PM CDT

Corporate Finance Team Exits Dewey & LeBoeuf Offices in UK and Moscow for Orrick

A group of corporate finance attorneys from the London and Moscow offices of Dewey & LeBoeuf is headed to Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. Led by Moscow partners Leo Batalov and Dmitry Gubarev, the group also includes associates from both offices, Legal Week reports. London associates of Dewey were informed earlier…

May 10, 2012 10:05 PM CDT

Ex-Partner Blames Legal Recruiters, Excessive Pay Guarantees, Angry Colleagues for Dewey’s Downfall

A former real estate practice leader at Dewey & LeBoeuf blames legal recruiters, excessive guaranteed compensation deals and angry fellow partners for the law firm’s impending downfall in a video interview posted Thursday. “A lot of partners are extraordinarily angry right now at the turn of events,” Stuart Saft, who…

May 10, 2012 9:12 PM CDT

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…

May 10, 2012 7:28 PM CDT

As Top Leaders Join Winston & Strawn and O’Melveny, the Collapse of Dewey & LeBoeuf Appears Imminent

Two of the four remaining members of the new management committee at Dewey & LeBoeuf are leaving to join other major law firms. Litigation chief Jeffrey Kessler is to start next week at Winston & Strawn, where chairman Dan Webb says the firm has hired about 60 Dewey refugees including…

May 9, 2012 9:27 PM CDT

From ‘Drip Torture’ to Closure: Dewey Begins Laying Off Associates, Gives 1 Week Notice, WSJ Reports

Even as a once-mighty law firm was disintegrating around them, many associates of Dewey & LeBoeuf heard nothing official about their own fate. But that changed Tuesday as the law firm began laying off associates with one week of notice in a conference room meeting, reports the Wall Street Journal…

May 8, 2012 10:27 PM CDT

Former Perkins Coie Attorney Sues Firm Over Paycheck Deductions, Seeks Class Action Status

Updated: A corporate attorney who formerly worked in the Menlo Park, Calif., office of Perkins Coie has sued the law firm in federal court in California, contending that it improperly made deductions from his pay and did not provide an accurate, itemized statement of his wages as required by state…

May 8, 2012 5:16 PM CDT

Don’t Underestimate Lawyers’ Resistance to Change, Seyfarth Shaw Chairman Says

Seyfarth Shaw has learned a lot about lawyers and their resistance to change as the firm embraced Lean Six Sigma, a management approach emphasizing process improvement and efficiency in legal work. Seyfarth Shaw chairman J. Stephen Poor outlines the lessons learned in an article for the New York Times DealBook…

May 8, 2012 12:52 PM CDT

Ex-Dewey Vice Chair Says Firm Owes Him $61M; Secretaries Told of Layoffs; Departures Pick Up

A half-dozen moving trucks lined up at the loading dock for troubled law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf in New York on Monday, while an artist out front asked employees to write comments on his impressionistic painting of ousted chairman Steven Davis. The Am Law Daily (reg. req.) described the mood…

May 8, 2012 11:49 AM CDT

At Dewey, One of the Powerful ‘Steves’ Wasn’t a Practicing Lawyer; Did He Make $2M?

Professional managers are increasingly taking on more powerful roles at law firms, and Exhibit A is Dewey & LeBoeuf. At Dewey, the executive director, Stephen DiCarmine, was a lawyer by training who became a legal administrator working closely with former chairman Steven Davis, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports.…

May 7, 2012 1:48 PM CDT