Midsize Firm

Law firm, 2 attorneys sued by FDIC, accused of helping bank make $82M in illegal loans

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has sued a Florida law firm and two of its attorneys, contending that they failed to take note of “glaring red flags” when representing Orion Bank in making $82 million in illegal loans in 2009. Nason, Yeager, Gerson, White & Lioce, as well as a…

Apr 18, 2013 7:42 PM CDT

Company sues former law firm, says failure to detect issues before IPO cost millions

A Florida-based company that sells health products over the Internet has sued its former law firm, contending that it lost millions because Shefsky & Froehlich failed to detect and inform its leaders, prior to going forward with an initial public offering, of corporate governance and capital structure issues. In the…

Apr 16, 2013 5:35 PM CDT

5 trademark lawyers exit Finnegan Henderson to form own firm

Five lawyers are exiting Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner to form their own firm. They include David Kelly, who formerly served as a trademark practice group leader for the 350-attorney Washington, D.C., intellectual property boutique, three other partners and a counsel, Reuters reports. The split is apparently amicable–managing partner…

Apr 15, 2013 3:53 PM CDT

DC insurance boutique opens in NYC’s Chrysler Building, is looking for associates

A Washington, D.C.-based international insurance boutique has opened in New York City, where it signed a four-year lease for nearly 4,000 square feet of space in the Chrysler Building. Lewis Baach has been operational there for roughly a month, with partners Adam Kaufmann and Arthur Middlemiss already at work, according…

Apr 10, 2013 7:40 PM CDT

Law firm mergers surge in 1st quarter 2013

Law firm merger activity hit a four-year high in the first quarter of 2013. All of the 20-plus law firm weddings listed by the Altman Weil Mergerline, however, involved the acquisition of smaller—and often much smaller—legal shops. “Firms are picking up specialty practices, expanding in strong markets and adding offices…

Apr 4, 2013 9:50 PM CDT

Saying he was forced out of small firm he founded after leaving BigLaw, partner, 72, gets a new gig

A well-known employment and civil rights litigator says he was forced out of the law firm he founded in 2003 after a nearly 23-year career at Paul Hastings. But Lawrence Ashe, 72, is now starting a new job, as senior counsel, at another firm, Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs. “We…

Apr 3, 2013 7:12 PM CDT

4 lawyers exit top local firm to open new Wilmington, Del., office for K&L Gates

K&L Gates is the only Pittburgh-based BigLaw firm without an office in Philadelphia. But it now has one a short distance away in Wilmington, Del., which is opening with a four-lawyer corporate group from one of the city’s longtime top law firms. Partners Eric Feldman, Nicholas Froio, Christina Houston and…

Apr 1, 2013 10:01 PM CDT

Detroit’s Clark Hill to meld with Pittsburgh-based Thorp Reed, forming 300-lawyer firm

A longtime Pittsburgh law firm has agreed to join forces with Clark Hill, a 200-attorney counterpart based in Detroit. Together, Clark Hill and Thorp Reed & Armstrong will have 300 lawyers in 12 offices when they formally merge in the second quarter of this year, reports the Philadelphia Business Journal.…

Mar 29, 2013 6:38 PM CDT

Kasowitz bid for $7M success fee in ex-client’s ATM litigation is nixed by top NY court

An effort by a New York law firm to obtain a $7 million success fee from a former client got a final kibosh Tuesday from the state’s top court. In a brief ruling (PDF), the New York Court of Appeals declined to hear a challenge by Kasowitz Benson Torres &…

Mar 26, 2013 5:30 PM CDT

Ex-associate sues 2 law firms, says negative info they shared put him in a lower-paying job

Jeffrey Downs says he was all set to follow partner Mark LeWinter last year when he exited Philadelphia personal injury law firm Anapol Schwartz to take a job with competitor Raynes McCarty. But then his Raynes job offer was rescinded, Downs contends in a lawsuit filed this week in the…

Mar 25, 2013 5:06 PM CDT

Cozen O’Connor to open new Fla. office with 6-lawyer Edwards Wildman team

A six-lawyer group has leaped from Edwards Wildman to Cozen O’Connor, where they will open a West Palm Beach office for their new firm. The group, headed by D. Scott Elliott and Michael Botos, is part of an ongoing expansion plan in South Florida, according to a Cozen O’Connor press…

Mar 18, 2013 9:50 PM CDT

Law firm settles Pfizer case, pays bills and emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy

In an unusual move, a Portland, Ore., law firm has been able to pay its bills and emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy after setting a big case. The same prolonged legal battle with Pfizer Inc. that forced Williams Love O’Leary & Powers to file for bankruptcy in 2011 also resulted…

Mar 14, 2013 2:26 PM CDT

Archer & Greiner lays off 14 lawyers, 27 staffers

After mergers during the past several years that brought its attorney roster from 150 to nearly 210 lawyers, a well-known law firm with longtime roots in New Jersey is retrenching. Archer & Greiner gave layoff notices last week to 14 attorneys and 27 staff members, the New Jersey Law Journal…

Mar 12, 2013 9:04 PM CDT

250 lawyers and staffers told to clear desks and go home, as regulators ‘intervene’ at law firm

Some 250 lawyers and staff were told to clear their desks Monday and go home as regulators “intervened” in the operation of a British law firm. The Solicitors Regulation Authority said it acted at Blakemores Solicitors, which has offices in Birmingham and Leamington, to protect the interests of the firm’s…

Mar 12, 2013 4:46 PM CDT

Cozen global securities chief leaps to Schiff in 3-lawyer group

The chief of the global securities practice at Cozen O’Connor has led a three-attorney group to Schiff Hardin. Ralph De Martino and F. Alec Orudjev will practice in the corporate and securities group, working out of Washington, D.C., and Cavas Pavri, practicing in the same group, will work primarily in…

Mar 11, 2013 4:50 PM CDT