Partners

SEC Seeks Sanctions Against Three Akerman Lawyers in Discovery Dustup

The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking sanctions of up to $20,000 a day against three Akerman Senterfitt lawyers, a Miami solo practitioner and the company they represent. The agency says the lawyers should be held in contempt of court and prodded to comply with discovery orders with the imposition…

May 21, 2009 12:33 PM CDT

Failed Merger Splits Las Vegas Firm, Top Partners Lead Group to Greenberg Traurig

Three top partners are leaving one of the largest law firms in Las Vegas and leading a group to Greenberg Traurig in the wake of an apparent failed merger, according to the Las Vegas Sun and the Am Law Daily. Founding partners Thomas Kummer and Mark Ferrario and chairman Michael…

May 20, 2009 11:48 PM CDT

Two UK Partners at Dorsey and McDermott Face Insider Trading Charges

A current and a former partner at the London offices of two U.S.-based law firms—Dorsey & Whitney and McDermott Will & Emery—face charges of insider trading by the U.K. Financial Services Authority. Legal Week and Bloomberg report that the two lawyers are Dorsey & Whitney partner Andrew Rimmington and former…

May 20, 2009 4:43 PM CDT

Skadden Executive Partner: New Defection Shows Firm Is Talent Incubator

The executive partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is putting a positive spin on the firm’s latest partner loss. D.J. “Jan” Baker is leaping to Latham & Watkins, where he will lead the firm’s restructuring practice, according to the New York Times DealBook blog. Baker recently led the…

May 20, 2009 1:52 PM CDT

Pa. Law Firm is Sadder But Wiser After Alleged Thefts By Paralegal

A problem paralegal at a Pennsylvania law firm reportedly arrived late, left early and had a bad attitude. But only after she was let go one Friday did routine audits a few days later of the law firm estate accounts she had been handling allegedly reveal a more serious issue.…

May 20, 2009 12:57 AM CDT

‘Reply All’ Was a Mistake, Peeved Partner Tells Quinn Emanuel Associate

Observers are openly wondering how long an unidentified first-year associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges will hold his job, after reading a jaw-dropping e-mail thread. It began with a partner’s standard-issue firmwide proclamation of victory on Friday in a federal court case involving the trademark rights of the…

May 19, 2009 8:53 PM CDT

Mayer Brown Vice Chair Maher Submits His Resignation

Mayer Brown vice chair Paul Maher has officially submitted his resignation after being passed up for promotion. Maher’s departure was announced in a May 15 memo, according to the National Law Journal. He had been on sabbatical since news broke that he did not get a position in the firm’s…

May 19, 2009 4:25 PM CDT

Vacation or Not, Lawyers Should Be Available via E-mail, Cleary Partner Says

Even when a lawyer is on vacation, he or she should still routinely be available by e-mail, a London partner of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton tells his partners in a recent e-mail. An “out of office” auto-reply saying that an attorney is unavailable is acceptable only in rare circumstances,…

May 18, 2009 7:04 PM CDT

5 Lawyers from Bryan Cave Start New Practice Group for Morris Manning

Morris Manning & Martin has hired a five-lawyer group from Bryan Cave. It will establish a new timberlands investment and forest products practice group for the southeastern regional law firm, which also has offices in Asia. Partner C. Glenn Dunaway will lead the corporate portion of the practice group and…

May 18, 2009 4:03 PM CDT

‘Meganumbers’ Pay for Lawyers Is On the Wane, Recruiter Says

Even after the recession ends, lower pay for lawyers may continue to be the norm. Recruiter Jerome Kowalski of Kowalski & Associates tells the Legal Intelligencer that client pressures are among several factors depressing lawyer salaries, and the change is likely to be lasting. “These meganumbers in terms of compensation…

May 18, 2009 1:49 PM CDT

Perkins Coie Says It Won’t Hire New Partner After All

Last Wednesday, Perkins Coie announced with some fanfare that politically connected Denver lawyer Willie Shepherd was leaving the firm he co-founded and chaired to become a partner in Perkins Coie’s Denver office. Never mind. Late on Friday, Perkins Coie issued a press release saying Shepherd won’t be joining the firm…

May 18, 2009 12:19 PM CDT

DLA Piper Cuts Starting Pay to $145K, Apparently May Eliminate Lockstep

A major BigLaw firm has joined a small but growing list of well-known law firms that have recently announced associate salary reductions. Plus, DLA Piper is also imposing salary cuts on more senior associates and moving away from a traditional lockstep compensation scheme in which all attorneys who graduated from…

May 15, 2009 9:12 PM CDT

Keker & Van Nest Power Struggle Led to Defections

Lawyers from Keker & Van Nest and a new law firm of defecting lawyers have made polite public statements about the split, but beneath the surface lies bitterness over a power struggle. The Daily Journal (sub. req.) conducted more than two dozen interviews and learned that Daralyn Durie left the…

May 15, 2009 3:32 PM CDT

Two Skadden M&A Stars Defect to Kirkland in ‘Shockwaves’ Move

Updated: Two top mergers and acquisitions partners at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom are joining Kirkland & Ellis, the first time any M&A partner at the larger firm has leaped to a competitor. The New York Times says the move by David Fox and Daniel Wolf is a big…

May 15, 2009 12:31 PM CDT

In Fact, Dechert Raided Only 3 of Our 5 Moscow Partners, Chadbourne Says

A Dechert press release last week announcing the acquisition of all five partners from the Moscow office of Chadbourne & Parke apparently was premature. In fact, only three of the five partners are moving to Dechert’s new Moscow office, according to a Chadbourne statement provided to the ABA Journal by…

May 14, 2009 6:40 PM CDT