Law Practice Management
Retired WolfBlock Lawyers Out of Luck?
Posted Mar 25, 2009 9:32 AM CST
By Molly McDonough
In a throwaway line buried deep in a Philadelphia Inquirer article about the winding down of the 106-year-old WolfBlock is some troubling news.
Retired lawyers may lose their pensions.
Why? The paper reports that the firm is funding pension costs out of current revenues and "has no long-term investments for its pension plan."
"Once the firm ceases operation, there will no longer be money to pay for the pensions," the Inquirer notes.
The ABA Journal will continue to explore this news angle. Meanwhile, please share in the comments whether your firms handle pensions this way or if they have long-term investment strategies.
More on WolfBlock:
Philadelphia Inquirer: "WolfBlock Lacked a Plan"
ABAJournal.com: "Why WolfBlock Didn't Merge to Survive"
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- Family of Living Man Declared Dead Seeks to Sue Medical Examiner
Should Supreme Court Justices Be Able to Review News Accounts Before Publication?
Comments
Solo
Mar 25, 2009 1:06 PM CST
Another reason to be a solo or in a small firm. You know and can appreciate your risks and benefits better than in BigLaw.
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B. McLeod
Mar 25, 2009 1:14 PM CST
An unfunded pension plan? This must have been a very interesting “pension” arrangement, especially if the firm was treating it as a tax qualified pension benefit plan. Maybe a couple of federal agencies that do things with labor and tax issues will need to take a look at it.
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Legal Eagle
Mar 25, 2009 2:41 PM CST
The gross mismanagement of the firm has really left everyone, not just retired partners, in a world of hurt. Aside from the retired partners’ lost pensions, the active partners are unlikely to recover their capital contributions, which were very substantial, and the lawyers and staff will be scrambling to find jobs at the worst possible time. Nevertheless, the “leaders” of the firm have arranged cushy new jobs for themselves.
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Former Wolfie
Mar 27, 2009 8:53 PM CST
Wolf Block’s doom was sealed when Charlie Kopp, Bob Segal, and Billy Rosoff arranged for Mark Alderman to come back and run the firm, in 1994. Alderman had no respect for the brilliant lawyers who filled out WB’s roster, and the firm became a vehicle for his ego. So long as he would protect Charlie and Bob (Bily left after a while) and their financial interests, they would cover for him and all his failures and miscalculations. It’s a sad ending, but the only surprise is that it took so long for Alderman to undo what had been created by lawyers far more intelligent than he.
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