Partners

Ex-BigLaw Associate, 29, Forms Biotech Boutique via Craigslist

When Afif Ghannoum decided to open a biotechnology boutique in Cleveland, the 29-year-old former BigLaw associate advertised for potential partner-level attorneys on Craigslist. He received responses from nearly 100 lawyers in Ohio and another 400 in New York City. To help keep costs low, the firm’s nine lawyers operate out…

Jul 27, 2009 5:54 PM CDT

McCarter & English Chairman Dies of Apparent Heart Attack

Andrew Berry, the 69-year-old chairman of McCarter & English, died Friday while at his vacation home in Maine. Berry helped expand McCarter & English into a “regional powerhouse” and “played a significant, if often anonymous, role in the rebirth of Newark,” the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports. The cause was apparently…

Jul 27, 2009 5:26 PM CDT

Less Pay, More Vacation for Employees of Scotland’s Biggest Law Firm

Staff members have voted overwhelmingly in support of a temporary 10-percent pay cut at the biggest law firm in Scotland, from September to April, when the next fiscal year begins. The alternative would be layoffs, as Dundas and Wilson rebalances its expenses to match income, reports the BBC. Meanwhile, the…

Jul 24, 2009 7:42 PM CDT

Calif. Lawyer Disbarred Over Jury Vote

In a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court has disbarred a San Francisco sole practitioner who changed his vote to break a deadlock while serving on a jury, after a monthlong trial and 10 days of deliberation. The solo, Francis Fahy, then compounded his situation by allegedly lying to the…

Jul 23, 2009 9:48 PM CDT

6 DLA Piper Lawyers Leave Megafirm for Midsize Phila. Practice

Six lawyers from DLA Piper, including the head of the litigation practice for the Philadelphia office, are leaving to join Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin, a midsize local law partnership known for its trial and appellate work. “I’ve had a great experience at DLA, and it is a marvelous firm…

Jul 23, 2009 8:06 PM CDT

Tad Decker Gets Second Term as Head of Cozen O’Connor

Tad Decker has been elected to a second three-year term as president and CEO of Philadelphia-based Cozen O’Connor. A law firm press release says Decker has improved financial performance of Cozen despite the recession. “Cozen O’Connor enjoyed sustained growth in revenue, revenue per lawyer and profits, especially impressive given the…

Jul 23, 2009 3:17 PM CDT

Suit by Fired Lateral Partner Says Edwards Angell Should Have Lowered Expectations

A lateral partner fired for failing to meet revenue projections claims in a lawsuit that Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge should have lowered its expectations after the economic downturn. Edwards Angell hired Stephen Connoni from K&L Gates in September 2007, the New York Law Journal reports. Connoni was to be…

Jul 22, 2009 2:02 PM CDT

Auction of Dreier’s Home Offers View of Disgraced N.Y. Lawyer’s Luxe Lifestyle

The $40,000 worth of Baccarat crystal and a set of seven Dale Chihuly glass light fixtures for which attorney Marc Dreier paid $180,000 will be sold separately. But many emblems of his luxurious lifestyle in a three-bedroom, four-bathroom “pied-a-terre” in one of New York City’s most fashionable Midtown apartment buildings…

Jul 21, 2009 7:20 PM CDT

Name Partner Quits Bromberg Boutique in Merger Spat

A 30-year-old Boston-based intellectual property boutique has abruptly changed its name, as one of its co-founders and another partner announced their resignation yesterday over other partners’ refusal to consider a merger. In a letter yesterday, co-founder Lee Bromberg and another partner, Erik Belt, said they will resign from Bromberg &…

Jul 21, 2009 6:03 PM CDT

UK Report Says Legal Profession Is Too Socially Exclusive

The legal profession in the United Kingdom is too socially exclusive, drawing lawyers from well-to-do families and private schools, according to a report released today. The report found that lawyers are more likely than other professionals to have grown up in affluent families, Legal Week reports. Lawyers born in 1970…

Jul 21, 2009 5:56 PM CDT

Motown Songwriter Files Suit Against Willkie Farr Over Royalty Securitization

Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier has filed a malpractice suit against Willkie Farr & Gallagher that claims the law firm represented two sides of the table when securitizing Dozier’s future song royalties. The suit says the law firm issued opinion letters for trust documents and songwriter agreements while also representing Dozier,…

Jul 21, 2009 12:16 PM CDT

Seven IP Lawyers Leave Proskauer for Perkins Coie

Seven intellectual property lawyers have jumped from Proskauer Rose to Perkins Coie. The group includes four partners who worked at Heller Ehrman before its dissolution and three associates, the Am Law Daily reports. The partners—Colin Sandercock, Paul Booth, John Isacson and David Laub—will be reunited with 13 other former Heller…

Jul 21, 2009 11:49 AM CDT

GM’s GC Returns to Jenner & Block

The general counsel of General Motors is returning to Jenner & Block, the law firm he left in September 2006 to join the automaker. Robert Osborne returned to the firm after helping GM emerge from bankruptcy in only 40 days, the Chicago Tribune reports. Before leaving Jenner, Osborne had chaired…

Jul 21, 2009 11:26 AM CDT

DLA Piper Partner Moves to Smaller Firm Over Clients’ Cost Concerns

As a partner of 3,700-attorney DLA Piper, Thomas Durling could promote the megafirm’s international platform and deep capabilities on major corporate matters. The problem was, a number of his intellectual property clients were local Pennsylvania businesses more interested in how much he charged for his services as an intellectual property…

Jul 20, 2009 8:51 PM CDT

Collecting Madoff and Dreier Assets Keeps New York Lawyers Busy—and Stressed

Despite the dismal economy, there’s been quite a bit of work lately for lawyers who specialize in recovering assets held by convicted swindlers. But it isn’t an easy gig. As partner Mark Pomerantz of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison moves toward the finish line concerning his role as a…

Jul 20, 2009 7:49 PM CDT