Partners

Crowell & Moring Name Partner Dies

Updated: A founder and name partner of the law firm Crowell & Moring has died. John Frederick Moring died earlier this week from pneumonia, reports The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. Moring, who was known as Fred, was 73. Moring helped found Crowell & Moring in 1979 with 52…

May 14, 2009 6:30 PM CDT

Ex-Mayer Brown Partner Knew Zip re Client’s $2.4B Fraud, His Lawyer Says

A lawyer for a former Mayer Brown partner started outlining his client’s defense yesterday in a federal trial that began in New York this week over what prosecutors describe as attorney Joseph Collins’ help to high-level executives at Refco Inc. in concealing a $2.4 billion corporate fraud. The three executives…

May 14, 2009 5:22 PM CDT

Firm Named for Bill Gates’ Father Is Axed as Microsoft Preferred Provider

The father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates now works for his son, but his former law firm has a less prominent position. K&L Gates will no longer serve as a preferred legal provider for Microsoft, the Seattle Times reports. Microsoft asked law firms for bids in January and announced its…

May 14, 2009 11:33 AM CDT

Oops. Donald Trump, Tenant, Signed His Own Landlord Lease

A New York lawyer suing to evict Donald Trump’s company from several Manhattan co-op apartment units it is renting is chortling over the real estate mogul’s lease. Seems that Trump, when leasing out his own property, has tenants sign a rental agreement that is highly pro-landlord, reports the Am Law…

May 14, 2009 12:12 AM CDT

DLA Piper Axes 124 in UK Offices

After earlier layoff announcements concerning attorneys in its United States, Asia and Dubai offices, DLA Piper is now officially wielding the ax in the United Kingdom, too. Concluding “redundancy” consultations announced in February, the firm has terminated 24 “fee-earners” and 100 support staff in the U.K., reports Legal Week. “Under…

May 13, 2009 6:35 PM CDT

Dechert Chairman’s Pay Cut Is Not $1M, Spokeswoman Says

Thirty-six partners at Dechert are taking pay cuts, but reports that the chairman’s reduced draw amounts to $1 million are wrong, a law firm spokeswoman says. The spokeswoman told the American Lawyer that the pay cuts are based on a percentage of each partner’s annual draw, and partners could end…

May 13, 2009 12:59 PM CDT

What Gender Gap? Many Women Lawyers w/ Kids Do as Well as Men, Researcher Says

It may not be whether women lawyers have children but how much they focus on their families that accounts for a widely reported gender gap between the salaries and partnership prospects of male and female attorneys at many law firms. A study of data concerning graduates of the University of…

May 13, 2009 12:14 AM CDT

Shearman’s German Offices Shrink as Co-Chair’s Star Power Increases

Shearman & Sterling’s German operation has been on something of a roller-coaster ride. Shearman had enviable success after launching its first German office in Düsseldorf 18 years ago, the American Lawyer reports. The firm prospered handling mergers and acquisitions, growing to 120 lawyers and opening new offices in Mannheim, Frankfurt…

May 12, 2009 5:00 PM CDT

Dreier Stays in Penthouse Due to Judge’s Ruling, Son’s Bar Mitzvah Cash

Lawyer Marc Dreier will get to stay in his penthouse apartment a while longer. Dreier pleaded guilty yesterday in a scheme to sell investors phony promissory notes, costing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said Dreier may remain free on bail until he is…

May 12, 2009 3:34 PM CDT

Law Firm Business Model Isn’t Changing All That Much, Survey Says

Ward Bower of consulting firm Altman Weil has been predicting some big changes for large law firms that will affect the bottom line for many associates. Bower tells the Legal Intelligencer that law firms will be hiring fewer first-year associates, will be billing clients less for their work, and will…

May 12, 2009 2:35 PM CDT

Dechert Chairman Takes a $1M Pay Cut

Dechert chairman Barton Winokur reportedly has revealed that he will reduce his partner draw by $1 million. Winokur told of the self-imposed pay cut and said at a secret enclave of law firm leaders last month that other Dechert leaders were also taking similar hits, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Winokur…

May 12, 2009 11:47 AM CDT

Attorney Marc Dreier Pleads Guilty; Will He Go to Jail Prior to Sentencing?

Once a high-flying partner at the helm of a 250-attorney New York law firm, Marc Dreier pleaded guilty today in federal court in Manhattan to a fraud scheme for which authorities are seeking $700 million in restitution. Dreier, who was arrested in December for allegedly bilking sophisticated investors out of…

May 11, 2009 10:35 PM CDT

BigLaw Brother-Sister Team Wins CBS’s ‘Amazing Race’

A Harvard-educated brother-sister team won the $1 million grand prize in the 14th edition of the globe trotting game show the “Amazing Race.” The winners, Victor Jih, 35, and his sister Tammy, 26, are both practicing lawyers in California, the Associated Press reports. To wrap up this season’s race, three…

May 11, 2009 2:26 PM CDT

Dreier to Plead Guilty Today; Will He Return to Penthouse Apartment?

Lawyer Marc Dreier will plead guilty this afternoon to charges he sold $700 million in phony securities to investors, according to his lawyer, Gerald Shargel. Less certain is whether Dreier will return to his penthouse apartment where he has been living under armed guard. Shargel told the New York Law…

May 11, 2009 11:54 AM CDT

Ark. Lawyer in Hot Water Over $9M Settlement-Funds Shortfall

A prominent Arkansas plaintiffs securities lawyer has reportedly come up short on about $9.3 million that was supposed to be paid last month from a fund he controls to clients who made a $65.8 million settlement with BISYS Group Inc. in 2006. Gene Cauley told co-counsel in the case last…

May 8, 2009 11:37 PM CDT