70-lawyer law firm seeks bankruptcy protection after lawyer departures
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Archer Norris, a 70-lawyer law firm in California, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week in San Francisco.
The bankruptcy filing says Archer Norris sought bankruptcy protection after the departures of more than 30 lawyers since 2016, the Recorder reports.
More than 20 lawyers left Archer Norris’ Newport Beach office in 2016, and an additional 10 partners left since January 2017, according to a court declaration by managing partner Douglas Straus. The departures were a factor in the dissolution, along with “the firm not being as successful during the last few years as it once was,” the declaration said.
The bankruptcy petition said the law firm expects that all lawyers and client matters will leave the firm by Sept. 15 unless there is a written agreement to the contrary. Firm managers will be responsible for making sure that unfinished client matters are assigned to new law firms before a client service deadline of Sept. 24.
Archer Norris was created in 2000 through a merger of Norris & Norris and Archer, McComas, Breslin, McMahon & Chritton.
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