Global White & Case IT Chair Joins Latham; 16th Partner to Depart This Month
Updated: The global information technology practice group chair at White & Case is leaving to join Latham & Watkins, his soon-to-be former firm has confirmed in an e-mailed statement to the ABA Journal.
Steven Betensky “is an excellent lawyer,” says Dimitrios Drivas, the head of White & Case’s global intellectual property practice. “We wish him all the best for the future.”
Earlier this month, the firm lost 14 partners in its London and Middle East offices. And a 15th partner, mining and metals chair Tanneke Heersche, left the firm’s Johannesburg office this week to join Canada-based Fasken Martineau, the American Lawyer reports.
It notes that White & Case saw its revenue drop 11 percent in 2009 after layoffs of 200 lawyers and 200 staffers in March.
However, such layoffs and reports of decreased revenue are not unusual at well-known law firms dealing with what is widely recognized as one of the most difficult years the legal industry has experienced in the memory of most practitioners.
Earlier related coverage:
ABAJournal.com (Mar. 2009): “731 Lawyers and Staff Laid Off Monday at Morgan Lewis, K&L Gates and White & Case”
ABAJournal.com (June 2009): “Layoffs’ Toll: At White & Case, a ‘Melancholy Pall’ and Fear of Sick Days”
ABAJournal.com: “Despite Decreased Revenue at Some Law Firms in 2009, Sunnier Year May Be Ahead”
Updated at 4:15 p.m. to include and accord with information provided by White & Case to ABA Journal.
