Large Firm

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

After Hectic Week at Dewey, Focus Turns to Unpaid $9.6M Bill of Partner’s Brother

Former Dewey & LeBoeuf chairman Steven Davis isn’t the only partner at the troubled law firm subject to some finger-pointing. Some Davis supporters are telling the Am Law Daily (reg. req.) about an unpaid legal bill racked up by the late brother of former Dewey vice chairman Morton Pierce. Pierce’s…

May 7, 2012 12:44 PM CDT

Dewey Sends WARN Notice to US Workers, Says Law Firm Could Close

Citing “a period of extraordinary difficulties in the last few days,” Dewey & LeBoeuf has warned all United States personnel in an internal memo “it is possible that adverse developments could ultimately result in the closure of the firm, which would result in the termination of your employment.” The notice…

May 4, 2012 10:41 PM CDT

At Least 12 More Partners Exit Dewey & LeBoeuf for McDermott, Morgan Lewis and Pillsbury Winthrop

Updated: There is news Friday that at least 12 more partners are exiting from the troubled Dewey & LeBoeuf, which has already lost about one-third of its partners in 2012. The exiting partners include four hired by McDermott Will & Emery in Germany; two practice leaders headed to Pillsbury Winthrop…

May 4, 2012 7:18 PM CDT