Leaders of Collapsed Firms Face a Tough Job Search

The former leaders of collapsed law firms Heller Ehrman, Thacher Proffitt & Wood, Thelen and WolfBlock face a difficult job search.

“In many ways, these former leaders have a harder sell in landing a new job than the attorneys they once led,” the National Law Journal reports. “They must prove that the talents that took them to the top are transferable. Recovering from the black eye of their firms' downfall, they also have to show that they're willing to take direction and be cooperative players on a new team.”

When the former leaders do find jobs, they may be working for less pay than they earned before, the story says. New compensation arrangements may depend on their performance as a practitioner. Yet in many instances, firm leaders passed on their clients to other lawyers in their former firms so they could concentrate full-time on their leadership posts.

The story features these lawyers who went on to find new positions:

• Matthew Larrabee, 54, the former chairman of Heller Ehrman. Larrabee, a litigator, now works at Dechert on antitrust and securities matters and is helping lead an expansion effort for law firm on the West Coast.

• Stephen O'Neal, the former chairman of Thelen, who jumped with other lawyers from Thelen’s construction practice to Howrey.

• Tower Snow Jr., the head of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison before its dissolution and the leader of a West Coast initiative for Clifford Chance that didn't work out. Snow is now a director in the litigation department of Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin who is focusing on boosting that practice.