Associates
Dechert Lied in Job Interview, Ex-Associate Claims
Posted Oct 3, 2008, 02:50 pm CST
By Edward A. Adams
Former Dechert associate Marc Lubin has filed suit against the firm, claiming it lied to woo him to join the firm from Skadden in 2002, then fired him in part because he is an Orthodox Jew.
He made the move—even though it meant taking a 20 percent pay cut from his $215,000 Skadden salary—because he wanted experience in a wider variety of structured finance deals, according to the complaint filed in New York State court, Am Law Daily reports. The firm claimed it had plenty of work, and that it was Standard & Poor’s main outside counsel, the suit claims.
But when he arrived, the firm had only one deal ongoing, and when that ended, he was left to do "glorified paralegal work,” he claims.
He was fired in 2004, and told by a partner that it was because of the quality of his work and because he “was different”—which Lubin understood to mean his faith, which required him to eat kosher food and skip the firm’s holiday party.
He’s seeking $6 million in back pay, lost earnings, and punitive damages. Dechert did not return calls for comment from Am Law Daily.
Related Stories
- Lathrop & Gage to Open Calif. Office By Merging With Spillane Trial Boutique
Nov 21, 2008, 05:26 pm CST - Layoffs at Big Immigration Boutique; Fragomen Says Hiring to Be Curtailed
Nov 21, 2008, 04:43 pm CST - Patterson Belknap: 50 Cent IP Suit Burnishes ‘Gangsta Rapper’ Image
Nov 21, 2008, 10:34 am CST - Add 11 UK Lawyers to Mayer Brown’s Attorney Layoff List
Nov 21, 2008, 10:13 am CST
Related Topics
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Comments
Posted by Willem DeDonis - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 18 hours, 41 minutes ago
Oy vey! If this guy was any good, why did he leave Skadden? And he took a 20% pay cut? I’ll bet Skadden was not sorry to see him go. Now it’s sour grapes, as no one else wants this guy, so its law suit city. He ought to just find a girl and wear himself out there, rather than in court.
Posted by anon - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 15 hours, 59 minutes ago
Whatever your opinion on the lawsuit, your concluding comment is crude and uncalled for.
Posted by Shmilda - 1 month, 1 week, 5 days, 16 hours, 49 minutes ago
Actually, having passed through Dechert in 2004 I can verify some of this. Their corporate department had little substantive work. Real estate securitization was substantial, but it was handled by a tight knit group operating independently in their own practice group. They arrived en masse from TPW, and it didn’t take long for them to all leave together. More damning, during 2004, their NY office (110 lawyers) never had more than one Orthodox Jewish associate - very out of sync with every other NY firm. Only later, through the Swidler/Sherreff merger, did they acquire an Orthodox presence.