Partners

3 Laid-Off Ohio Lawyers Struggle to Find Work; 2 Others Land New Jobs

How bad is it out there right now for laid-off lawyers seeking new jobs? An article in Crain’s Cleveland Business today paints a depressing picture. Attorney Keith Barton lost his job as an in-house attorney at a nonprofit a few weeks before Christmas. He’s trying to get a solo practice…

Jun 22, 2009 9:13 PM CDT

Fla. Judge Dismisses RICO Claims Against Trial Lawyer Willie Gary

Corrected: Finding that a former legal secretary for his firm failed to establish either a pattern of criminal activity or direct injury, a Florida judge has dismissed two counts of racketeering in a lawsuit she filed against litigator Willie Gary. The Martin County suit, which alleged rape as well as…

Jun 22, 2009 6:33 PM CDT

Fen-Phen Counsel Exaggerated Heart Issue & Sexually Harassed, Client Says

A former client has sued the law firm that helped her win a $2,000 settlement in national diet drug litigation, contending that she suffered severe emotional distress because of the firm’s exaggeration of her heart symptoms and sexual harassment by an attorney working on her case. Attorney Robert Riley of…

Jun 22, 2009 5:33 PM CDT

Disbarred N.J. Lawyer Gets 15 Years for Gambling Away $4M in Client Funds

A disbarred New Jersey lawyer was sentenced to a 15-year prison term today for stealing about $4 million he was supposed to use for real estate closings and gambling it away in Atlantic City casinos. Michael Rumore, 50, who ran his law practice from the basement of his Lyndhurst home,…

Jun 19, 2009 10:02 PM CDT

7 Ballard Spahr Lawyers Ready to Bolt from 40-Attorney N.J. Office

A group of at least seven attorneys is about to bolt from the 40-lawyer Voorhees, N.J., office of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll. Where they are headed isn’t yet known. However, news of the pending departure of the group, which is headed by the office’s managing partner, Benjamin Levin, was…

Jun 19, 2009 6:12 PM CDT

Refco Execs Lied to Me, Mayer Brown Partner Testifies

Speaking forcefully and looking jury members straight in the eyes as he testified yesterday in federal court in Manhattan about his own role in a $2.4 billion corporate fraud case, a Mayer Brown partner said executives of Refco Inc. lied to him about financial issues underlying the loan transactions on…

Jun 19, 2009 5:53 PM CDT

Law Firm to Pay $4.1M to Settle Suit Over Ex-Partner’s Alleged Activities

A day after a Texas grand jury indicted one of its former lawyers, Austin-based Clark Thomas & Winters agreed to pay Pedernales Electric Cooperative $4.1 million to settle a suit that alleged improper payments to relatives of former cooperative officials. Earlier this week, Blanco County grand jurors indicted the lawyer,…

Jun 19, 2009 12:41 PM CDT

Lateral Partner Hiring Spree at Greenberg Traurig

Megafirm Greenberg Traurig is a known leader in lateral hiring. And, despite economic concerns and cutbacks at many firms these days, the 1,750-lawyer firm has already snagged as many partners from other firms as it did in all of last year, reports the American Lawyer. The firm’s latest notch on…

Jun 19, 2009 10:02 AM CDT

Law Firm’s ‘Boy Wonder’ Took $30M, But Exactly Why Still Isn’t Clear

James “Jamie” Perdigao didn’t even spend the nearly $30 million he bilked from his law firm and gaming clients there, so it was easy for the former star partner of Adams and Reese to make full restitution when he was finally caught. In fact, an extra $6 million seized by…

Jun 19, 2009 12:03 AM CDT

How Clifford Chance Intends to Rebuild Decimated NYC Litigation Team

When Juan Morillo joined Clifford Chance from Sidley Austin, he didn’t expect to be named the head of the international megafirm’s United States litigation practice within the next two years. But now a deluge of partner departures has given the 40-year-old Morillo, who practices out of the London-based law firm’s…

Jun 18, 2009 10:55 PM CDT

DLA Piper Lays Off 22 More in Middle East Offices, Including 1 Partner

In a second round of Dubai layoffs since April, DLA Piper is eliminating another 22 positions in its Middle East offices. “Unfortunately, staffing adjustments across the Middle East are unavoidable as the market is still impacted by the global downturn,” the firm’s regional managing partner, David Church, tells Legal Week.…

Jun 18, 2009 7:35 PM CDT

Lehman Bros. Collapse Catapulted In-House Counsel Into Dream Practice

Although Lawrence Bortstein had a great position as global head of technology law at Lehman Brothers Inc., he’d always wanted to run his own law firm. Lehman’s bankruptcy last year gave him a chance to realize this dream before turning 40. Although forming his own practice with former Morgan Lewis…

Jun 18, 2009 4:51 PM CDT

Dole Gets Legal Fees as Calif. Judge Details Attorneys’ Fraud on Court

Finding that United States and Nicaraguan counsel for plaintiff banana workers participated in a fraud on a California court, Judge Victoria Chaney today ordered that all defendants be reimbursed for their legal costs. The as-yet-undetermined fees award to Dole Food Company, Inc. and Dow Chemical Co., among other defendants, comes…

Jun 18, 2009 12:21 AM CDT

Morgan Lewis Raids Bingham for 11-Lawyer Banking Practice Group

Led by a former co-chair of Bingham McCutchen’s banking and leveraged finance practice group, an 11-lawyer contingent is joining the Boston office of Morgan Lewis & Bockius. The five partners and six associates are expected to focus their practice at Morgan Lewis on corporate finance and restructuring, their new firm…

Jun 17, 2009 7:22 PM CDT

Prominent N.Y. Lawyers Jab at Each Other in Astor Trial Main Event

There appears to be little love lost between two prominent New York attorneys who are pitted against each other as witnesses in an ongoing Manhattan courtroom battle over $60 million or so of a high-society estate. The verbal jousting between the two lofty estate practitioners, G. Warren Whitaker, 58, and…

Jun 16, 2009 11:57 PM CDT