Large Firm

How Latham’s Opening of a Chicago Office in 1982 Launched a Megafirm

At the beginning of 1982, what is now one of the world’s biggest and best-known law firms effectively didn’t exist on the roster of the nation’s BigLaw firms. Latham & Watkins had 126 attorneys, all but 12 of them in California. Its only outpost outside the state was in Washington,…

Mar 26, 2012 9:21 PM CDT

Another Dewey Leader to Depart, Says Desire to Leave BigLaw, Not Firm Finances, Prompted His Exit

The managing partner of the Houston office of Dewey & LeBoeuf has announced he plans to leave, with three associates, for another law firm, bringing to 37 the total number of Dewey partners who have exited or are about to, in the first three months of 2012. But Sean Gorman,…

Mar 26, 2012 6:35 PM CDT

6 More Dewey & LeBoeuf Partners Plan to Exit, Including Insurance Practice Leaders

Six more partners of Dewey & LeBoeuf have announced their planned exit. They include James Dwyer, who is in charge of the firm’s Chicago office; John Pruitt and Cynthia Shoss, who jointly run the firm’s insurance regulatory department; Jeffrey Mace, who oversees the Lloyd’s of London practice; and two tax…

Mar 23, 2012 9:08 PM CDT

Eversheds Makes In-House Contract Lawyer Team Permanent as Expected 15-Attorney Roster Nears 80

An experimental in-house contract lawyer service at a major United Kingdom-based law firm has gotten off to a bigger start than expected and has been made permanent a little over halfway into a one-year pilot program. Eversheds now has almost 80 contract lawyers available to clients through Eversheds Agile, Legal…

Mar 23, 2012 7:06 PM CDT

Clifford Chance Plans Layoffs of Up to 13 London Associates

Megafirm Clifford Chance has announced plans to lay off up to 13 associates in its London headquarters, Legal Week reports. “We are proposing to make a small number of lawyers redundant in London. Our business is very strong and resilient, and we continue to grow,” said David Bickerton, who serves…

Mar 23, 2012 6:30 PM CDT

BigLaw Partner Arrested in Alleged Domestic Assault on Mistress

A partner at King & Spalding in New York is free on bond after police charged him with hitting his mistress and threatening to kill her. Capital markets partner Steven Guynn is accused of slapping Jeannette Schaefer on the face and grabbing her arm in a March 14 incident at…

Mar 23, 2012 12:51 PM CDT

5th Circuit Ruling Is Setback for Law Firms Sued over Allen Stanford Representation

Two law firms accused of negligently employing a lawyer who advised convicted financier R. Allen Stanford suffered a setback in an appellate ruling on Monday. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (PDF) that state investor class actions weren’t barred by a federal law designed to curb…

Mar 22, 2012 4:04 PM CDT

Dewey Statement Hits Financial ‘Mischaracterizations’; WSJ Reports Delayed Bonuses

Dewey & LeBoeuf released an optimistic statement about the firm’s future on Wednesday after holding a partnership meeting where finances were part of the discussion. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) characterized the meeting as a “pep talk” and quotes an anonymous partner who said firm leaders encouraged attendees to…

Mar 22, 2012 1:03 PM CDT

$15.4M in Hiking Deaths of Gibson Dunn Partner and Cousin May Be Hawaii’s Biggest PI Settlement

Having already been found liable in the 2006 hiking accident deaths of a Gibson Dunn & Crutcher partner and her cousin, the state of Hawaii has agreed to pay a settlement of $15.4 million. One lawyer in the case says it’s the highest personal injury settlement in state history, reports…

Mar 20, 2012 7:39 PM CDT

12 Partners Exit Dewey LeBoeuf for Willkie Farr, Including 3 Practice Group Leaders

Updated: Dewey & LeBoeuf, which has already seen at least 18 of its 300 or so partners exit in the first two months of 2012, is now losing another 12. Headed to Willkie Farr & Gallagher, the latest departing partner group includes John Schwolsky, who served as co-chair of the…

Mar 19, 2012 1:50 PM CDT

Only 26 Pillsbury Staffers Making the Move to Nashville, Site for Back-Office Operations

When Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman opens its Nashville office for back-office operations this summer, only 26 current employees will be making the move. Most employees were offered a relocation package, while some saw their positions eliminated, the Washington Post reports. Anyone not making the move will get a better-than-standard severance…

Mar 19, 2012 1:13 PM CDT

US Law Firm Hiring in London Boosts Lateral UK Partner Moves to a 5-Year High

Increased hiring in London by United States and transatlantic law firms has helped make lateral partners a hot commodity there, boosting the number being brought in to a five-year high. Led by Reed Smith and Mayer Brown, which recruited 33 and 29 partners in London, respectively, from 2007 through 2011,…

Mar 16, 2012 10:47 PM CDT

In Move Expected to Raise Some $31M, DLA Piper Votes to Create One-Tier, All-Equity Partnership

Putting DLA Piper’s offices in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia on the same footing as its United States offices, the firm’s partnership voted this week to establish a one-tier, all-equity partnership. Converting all 628 of the firm’s foreign partners to full equity status (they are presently split about equally…

Mar 15, 2012 7:43 PM CDT

Disinherited Charities Sue Ex-Nixon Peabody Lawyer Over $748,500 They Say He Got Via Undue Influence

A former Nixon Peabody lawyer is facing a case brought by another well-known law firm in Buffalo, N.Y., over $748,500 that onetime charitable beneficiaries of a woman who died in 2008 say he obtained through undue influence. The Erie County Surrogate’s Court is being asked to sort out the claims…

Mar 12, 2012 4:20 PM CDT

Do Elite Law Grads Disdain Longtime BigLaw Work? Stats Suggest Lower-Tier ‘Strivers’ Stick Around

Updated: It’s more difficult for grads of lower-ranked schools to land a job in a large law firm, but those who do may outperform their elite counterparts by achieving partnerships in greater percentages. That’s the conclusion of Indiana University law professor William Henderson, who looked at BigLaw partnership data from…

Mar 12, 2012 10:30 AM CDT