Partners

Two UK Law Firms Delay Partner Promotions

Two British law firms have pushed back dates for partner promotions as they complete restructuring plans. Clifford Chance plans to ax up to 92 partners in the restructuring, expected to be completed by this summer, Legal Week reports. The partner promotions process will begin after that, the story says. Allen…

Apr 8, 2009 1:18 PM CDT

‘I Just Wanted to Die,’ Former Ohio Legal Eagle Testifies

Updated: Once a top trial lawyer in Cincinnati, Ken Lawson was taking 100 pills a day when he hit bottom in 2006. As his admitted addiction to prescription drugs destroyed his law practice and put him, potentially, en route to a prison sentence, “I just wanted to die,” Lawson testified…

Apr 8, 2009 12:51 AM CDT

Times So Tough, Atty Had to Lay Off Wife; Others See Business Boom

The economy is so dismal that one of the biggest and best-known law firms in Florida, 1,150-attorney Holland & Knight, cut 70 attorneys and 243 staff members in two rounds of layoffs last May and last month. Meanwhile, at one of the state’s smallest practices, Hollywood real estate attorney Fred…

Apr 7, 2009 11:54 PM CDT

Rare Partner Layoffs Contemplated at Major Canadian Firm

As stunning layoffs have been made at United States and London-based law firms in recent months, Canadian law firms—thanks to the relative stability of Canadian banks—have been much less likely to wield the ax. When they do, it’s ordinarily associates who are cut. But in a rare exception a prominent…

Apr 7, 2009 10:53 PM CDT

Special Prosecutor to Investigate Government Lawyers in Sen. Stevens Case

As requested by the government, a federal judge today reversed the corruption conviction of former Sen. Ted Stevens and dismissed the case against him with prejudice. But the case is far from over. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan is appointing a special prosecutor to pursue a criminal contempt probe against…

Apr 7, 2009 4:52 PM CDT

McDermott Elects Dual Leaders: Will Friendship Survive and Egos Subside?

Two lawyers who campaigned as playing to each other’s strengths have been elected co-chairs of McDermott Will & Emery. Litigators Jeffrey Stone and Peter Sacripanti, both former prosecutors, were elected by the law firm’s management committee Friday, the Am Law Daily reports. Sacripanti, who is based in New York, told…

Apr 7, 2009 2:01 PM CDT

Mayer Brown Partners to Vote on New Chairman and Governance Structure

Partners at Mayer Brown will vote in mid-April whether to elect Herbert “Bert” Krueger as its new chairman. The law firm’s policy and planning committee has slated Krueger to replace James Holzhauer, who announced last month that he is resigning to address health issues, the National Law Journal reports. The…

Apr 7, 2009 1:28 PM CDT

MoFo Chairman Doesn’t Foresee a Fundamental Change in Legal Market

Morrison & Foerster never had across-the board associate layoffs until January, when it laid off 53 lawyers and 148 support staffers. But the layoffs don’t mean there is fundamental change afoot in the legal sector, according to MoFo’s chairman Keith Wetmore. He told the Lawyer that legal business will improve…

Apr 7, 2009 11:47 AM CDT

Weil Gotshal Could Earn $230M in Fees if GM Files for Bankruptcy

Weil Gotshal’s fees in a General Motors restructuring could reach $230 million, according to a law professor who teaches bankruptcy law. Weil is one of two law firms advising GM on a possible bankruptcy, according to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog. And the firm hopes to take charge of…

Apr 7, 2009 11:24 AM CDT

White House Counsel’s Partner Pay Last Year Was $1.7M

White House counsel Gregory Craig earned $1.7 million last year as a partner at Williams & Connolly. The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times published the figure, listed on financial disclosure forms recently released by the White House. The blog also noted one of Craig’s more unusual investments: stock in…

Apr 7, 2009 11:05 AM CDT

Colo. Law Partner’s Rallying Call: SOS Could Create Many Individual Jobs

What if every business that had the ability to create just one job did so? That’s the premise for an unusual idea to help improve the global economy that is described by a Colorado lawyer in an op-ed piece in the Denver Post. Partner Larry Pozner of the Reilly Pozner…

Apr 6, 2009 11:37 PM CDT

Barnes Firm Raids Bryan Cave to Open Atlanta Office, Plans More Hiring

A more than 500-attorney Indianapolis-based law firm is opening its first office in the Southeast, raiding two partners from the Atlanta office of Bryan Cave Powell Goldstein to establish a foothold in the city. Although Barnes & Thornburg is opening its Atlanta outpost with Stuart Johnson and Jason Bernstein, it…

Apr 6, 2009 9:43 PM CDT

Is Law Firm Paradigm Shift Ahead? Bring It On, Says Dechert Leader

Will a paradigm shift change the way law firms do business? Quite possibly, says Dechert chairman Bart Winokur, who is ready for the challenge. Winokur “is a lawyer with a long reputation for being tough, even ruthless,” the Lawyer reports. Many legal consultants believe he is one of the most…

Apr 6, 2009 1:02 PM CDT

Dreier’s High-Adrenaline Life on the Edge

Once a shining star at Rosenman & Colin, where he worked as a white-collar defense litigator, Marc Dreier today is under house arrest in his lavish New York home, accused of stealing a vast sum from investors and clients. The alleged thefts at the heart of the federal securities fraud,…

Apr 3, 2009 11:28 PM CDT

Paul Weiss Discounts Dreier Charges, Expects to Bill $1.4M

A court-appointed receiver overseeing the wind-up of the Dreier law firm once overseen by New York attorney Marc Dreier says his work essentially is done, now that he and his law firm have secured some $100 million in Dreier assets. So partner Mark Pomerantz and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton &…

Apr 3, 2009 10:03 PM CDT