‘Fat Cats Keep Getting Fatter,’ Says Lawyer for Workers at Failed Heller Firm

Insufficient efforts are being made to pursue accounts receivable for the dissolving Heller Ehrman, former employees complain in a leaked letter (PDF) to the government lawyer in charge of selecting the unsecured creditors committee in law firm's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

They are seeking a nonpartner representative on the committee, contending that former partners representing ex-Heller clients at new law firms have a financial disincentive to encourage these clients to pay their earlier Heller bills, reports the Recorder, in a reprint of a Legal Pad blog post.

The letter is signed by Craig Collins, a litigator representing former Heller employees. His law partner, Steve Blum, says he didn't leak the missive and offered one further comment to the legal publication: "Fat cats keep getting fatter."

Attorney Thomas Willoughby, who represents the creditors committee, says the letter is "misinformed." Confidential settlement negotiations with former partners are ongoing, he states.