Partners

Attorney Marc Dreier Gets Unsecured $10M Bail, Under Strict House Arrest

Like another alleged white-collar criminal who has been much in the news lately, attorney Marc Dreier will soon be out of jail and under house arrest. He is to be released on an unsecured $10 million bond, a federal judge in New York City decided yesterday, over the objections of…

Feb 5, 2009 9:30 PM CST

Diversified Denver Law Firm Grows as Others Slow Down

A diversified practice and a fortuitous geographic location in a city that hasn’t suffered as much economically as many are among the reasons why a 42-lawyer Denver firm has been hiring litigation partners as BigLaw shops throughout the country make headlines for firing attorneys and staff. Although corporate work has…

Feb 4, 2009 10:38 PM CST

Paul Weiss Partner Calls $6.6M Divorce Settlement Unfair, Blames Madoff

A partner at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison is seeking to reopen his $6.6 million divorce settlement with his wife of more than 30 years, saying that he paid her far more than he would otherwise have agreed to because of fraudulent investment account statements from a Bernard Madoff…

Feb 4, 2009 9:23 PM CST

Did Lowenstein Role in 14-Lawyer Leap Unfairly Ruin Former Firm? Trial Nears

More than nine years after 14 lawyers leaped from a well-known New Jersey partnership to Lowenstein Sandler, a trial is nearing over claims that the 260-attorney firm went too far in soliciting the swift departure that soon destroyed the defectors’ former firm Although Lowenstein denies that it did anything wrong,…

Feb 3, 2009 9:59 PM CST

Alleged $50B Madoff Fraud is Keeping a Lot of Law Firms Busy

More than 30 law firms around the world are representing an estimated 3 million alleged victims of the claimed $50 billion Ponzi scheme that Bernard Madoff is accused of running as a purported hedge fund. “Our calculations are that at least 3 million people were affected by the Madoff affair,…

Feb 3, 2009 8:39 PM CST

Why Akin Gump Lost 59 Partners and Made More Money in 2008

Updated: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld began a streamlining initiative in 2007 and got what it asked for—a slimmed-down firm. But not all 59 partners who left the firm last year were part of the plan, the American Lawyer reports. The firm lost 17 percent of its partners and…

Feb 3, 2009 2:00 PM CST

Weil Gotshal in Houston is Flooded with Resumés

The partner in charge of Weil, Gotshal & Manges in Houston says he can’t remember the last time he saw so many resumés from high-quality job seekers. John Strasburger told Texas Lawyer’s Tex Parte Blog that he used to see a couple resumés a week from lawyers. But in the…

Feb 3, 2009 12:22 PM CST

1 Lawyer, 2 Jobs: Full-Time Baby-sitter Is Key in Family Life

As both a corporate partner in the Chicago office of Drinker Biddle & Reath and chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education, Jesse Ruiz is a busy guy. His workday starts at 5 a.m. and ends at 9 p.m. And his wife, Michele Ruiz, is a partner at Sidley…

Feb 2, 2009 6:46 PM CST

Ex-Dreier Partners Could Be Liable Despite Nonequity Status

Indicted lawyer Marc Dreier may have been the only equity partner at his law firm, but that doesn’t necessarily mean departing nonequity partners are free of liability. Dreier was indicted last month on charges that he cheated investors and hedge funds out of $400 million by misappropriating trust money and…

Feb 2, 2009 5:35 PM CST

It’s Official: K&L Gates and Bell Boyd OK Merger; Firm to Have Nearly 2K Lawyers

An “overwhelming” yes vote today by partners of both firms has made it official: Pittsburgh-based K&L Gates and Chicago’s Bell Boyd & Lloyd will merge March 1. With the addition of Bell Boyd’s approximately 250 attorneys, K&L Gates will have about 1,900 lawyers in 31 offices, according to the Pittsburgh…

Jan 31, 2009 1:16 AM CST

Economic Storm Hits Lawyers Hard But ‘Unhappy Work’ Offers New Opportunities

A couple of years ago, attorney Ira Goldenberg did about 10 residential real estate closings a month. Now he is handling just one. Talk of the nation’s economic debacle has been the central topic among Goldenberg and other lawyers at the annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association.…

Jan 30, 2009 9:44 PM CST

Suspended Pa. Judge Now at Issue in $3.4M Legal Malpractice Judgment

Accusations that two now-suspended Pennsylvania judges accepted $2.6 million in kickbacks in exchange for incarcerating juveniles at specific detention facilities have spilled over into another multimillion-dollar case. A law firm seeking to overturn a $3.4 million legal malpractice award says in a motion for a new trial yesterday that it…

Jan 30, 2009 8:20 PM CST

How Did Court Examiners Miss $4M Allegedly Siphoned By N.Y. Guardian?

News this week that a New York lawyer serving as a court-appointed guardian has been accused of taking $4 million from some $30 million in funds that he was in charge of overseeing is sparking scrutiny of the system for reviewing guardians’ work. Outside examiners selected by judges from a…

Jan 30, 2009 5:41 PM CST

Four Firms Adding Office Space, Lawyers in Chicago

Breaking away from reports of attorney layoffs, this week we spoke to four law firms taking advantage of the recent spate of law firm mergers and downsizing to hire pools of lateral attorneys—hopefully with big books of clients—and expand niche practices in Chicago. “There’s two seasons in Chicago: winter and…

Jan 29, 2009 10:17 PM CST

January’s Carnage: 1,487 Law Layoffs

So far, it hasn’t been a happy new year for many lawyers working at well-known law firms throughout the country. As 2009 began, so did news of a growing tsunami of attorney layoffs being made at many BigLaw firms—not to mention London’s magic circle, in-house legal departments and midsize law…

Jan 29, 2009 8:15 PM CST