Partners

3 More Partners Exit Heller Ehrman

After a disappointing financial year in 2007 and the departure of several well-known colleagues, three more partners of Heller Ehrman are exiting the firm to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Margaret Mann has left her position as head of the San Francisco-based firm’s bankruptcy practice to join Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton…

Jan 8, 2008 6:53 PM CST

Bonovitz Steps Down as Duane Morris Chair

Sheldon Bonovitz, who oversaw Duane Morris the last 10 years as it tripled in size, is stepping down as chairman. The 70-year-old Bonovitz will remain at the firm, focusing on client development, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. He will be replaced by his second-in-command, 56-year-old John Soroko, who has headed the…

Jan 4, 2008 11:30 AM CST

Ex-Partners Claim Boston Firm Manipulated Finances to Cut Payouts

A claim for unpaid compensation by nine former partners of Boston firm Donovan Hatem has resulted in a court order barring a 2007 profit distribution until the dispute is resolved in arbitration. The ex-partners, who left in July to join LeClair Ryan, claim name partner David Hatem manipulated the firm’s…

Jan 3, 2008 12:14 PM CST

Retiring Mandatory Retirement

As some firms drop age-based policies, will others follow suit?

Jan 1, 2008 7:55 PM CST

LLP Partners Not Protected in Accounting Suit, N.Y. Top Court Rules

New York’s highest court has ruled that law firm partners sued for an accounting by a lawyer who leaves the firm are not protected from liability because they are organized as a limited liability partnership. The majority decision (PDF) held that the state’s LLP statute was intended to protect partners…

Dec 21, 2007 11:45 AM CST

Former Federal Prosecutor Accused of Raiding Law Firm Account

A former federal prosecutor has been indicted in Massachusetts on charges that he stole at least $150,000 from a bank account for his former law firm. Philip Giordano, 49, will be arraigned Jan. 15 in Suffolk Superior Court on “multiple charges of larceny and making false entries in a corporate…

Dec 20, 2007 7:03 PM CST

Mayer Brown Partner Sued—and Charged—by SEC in Refco Case

Updated:: The SEC filed civil and criminal cases today against a partner at Mayer Brown, accusing him of helping one of the world’s biggest commodities brokerages hide from investors information about debt that it was owed and related transactions. Joseph P. Collins, 57, allegedly helped Refco Group Ltd. and its…

Dec 18, 2007 6:36 PM CST

Chitwood Wins Motley Face-Off; Former Lawyers Spin Off Again

A year-and-a-half after Chitwood Harley Harnes settled claims against four former lawyers who set up a rival securities litigation shop at a new Atlanta office of Motley Rice, the Chitwood firm apparently has prevailed in a head-to-head battle for clients. Motley is closing its Atlanta office, and the four former…

Dec 10, 2007 11:27 PM CST

How Cynthia Jackson Got a Life

Cynthia Jackson thought she was helping her law firm by keeping her nose to the grindstone. But then the Baker & McKenzie employment partner went to an out-of-office workshop and had a revelation. The firm wanted her to have a life as well as a law practice, Jackson realized. So…

Dec 10, 2007 10:10 PM CST

Prominent Partner Beaten in Street

The chairman of Dilworth Paxson’s labor and employment practice was found at around 8 p.m. Thursday in a southwest Philadelphia street near his Acura, badly beaten. Police think that Gino Benedetti, who has chest and severe head injuries, may have been the victim of a botched robbery, reports the Legal…

Dec 10, 2007 9:56 PM CST

Wealthy Lawyers Take Social Nosedive

Pity the poor BigLaw partners and other financially successful lawyers. While many have never been richer and remain well-to-do by ordinary standards, they have taken a social nosedive in recent years compared to megabucks private equity investors and hedge fund titans. Although many BigLaw partners are taking home seven-figure profits,…

Dec 5, 2007 6:30 PM CST

Skadden Partner Dies After Airport Drug Search

A high-profile real estate lawyer from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom collapsed and died at an airport in Australia last week after a drug sniffing dog took an interest in him. Mark Bronson, 44, was a partner in the firm’s Tokyo office, Law.com reports. Sources told the Courier-Mail that…

Dec 4, 2007 12:54 PM CST

Law Firm Leaders Predict Belt-Tightening Ahead

Concerns about the economy are making law firm leaders less optimistic about the coming year, but they still predict partner profits will grow, according to a survey (reg. req.) by American Lawyer. How will they achieve such a feat? By increasing billing rates and doing some belt-tightening—at the expense of…

Dec 3, 2007 12:43 PM CST

Have Law, Will Travel

New breed of firms provides lower-cost, high-skill help

Dec 1, 2007 5:14 PM CST

Women Lawyers at the Top Earn Significantly Less than Men

A new survey shows “slow progress” for women in the upper echelons of big law firms. The survey (PDF) by the National Association of Women Lawyers finds that only 16 percent of equity partners at large law firms are women, and they earn almost $90,000 less than their male counterparts,…

Nov 29, 2007 12:34 PM CST