Surprise Letters for Departing Partners

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman is seeking to recover some of the money paid to a dozen partners in 2006 before they left the firm.

Certified letters mailed to partners who left in 2006 sought amounts that ranged from $10,000 to $90,000, American Lawyer reports. The legal magazine characterized the letters, sent in February, as polite but firm.

The partners received $15,000 a month in a draw against future profits, and the firm contends the amount paid exceeded the profits earned. The firm wants the partners to return the difference. In some cases the amount amounted to most of the pay received for the year, the legal magazine says.

One former partner says the letters are designed to warn current partners not to leave.