Large Firm

Quinn Emanuel to slash summer associate program; savings will go to signing bonuses

A powerhouse litigation firm plans to slash its summer program, announcing in an internal memo Monday that it believes its money can be better spent. Instead of hiring about 50 summer associates, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan plans to reduce its program to include only five to 10 law students…

Jun 29, 2015 4:00 PM CDT

BigLaw firms must face receiver’s suit over client’s $7B Ponzi scheme, federal judge rules

Two BigLaw firms and an attorney who worked for both of them will be facing a federal lawsuit over a massive Ponzi scheme operated by onetime client R. Allen Stanford. U.S. District Judge David Godbey gave a green light to most counts of the Dallas suit by receiver Ralph Janvey,…

Jun 25, 2015 10:10 AM CDT

BigLaw firm abandons the corner office in its new egalitarian digs

Nixon Peabody is abandoning tradition and embracing a millennial mindset in its new Washington, D.C., office. All offices–for paralegals, associates and partners—will be the same size, the Washington Post reports. They will be outfitted with adjustable standing desks, if requested, and one guest chair. And no one will get a…

Jun 24, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Tempers flared when Dewey rainmakers learned of 50% pay cut, ex-partner testifies

The mood became tense at a February 2012 meeting when 17 top rainmakers at Dewey & LeBoeuf were told they needed to take a 50 percent pay cut. Particularly galling was the news, to some attendees, of special compensation agreements under which some 100 partners had been receiving income regardless…

Jun 22, 2015 3:45 PM CDT

Google’s requests for law firm documents are an ‘abuse of the litigation process,’ filing contends

Google is going on a “fishing expedition” for “highly confidential” documents between Jenner & Block and its clients, including the Motion Picture Association of America, the law firm contends in a legal filing (PDF) on Monday. Jenner & Block called Google’s quest for the documents an “abuse of the litigation…

Jun 17, 2015 12:30 PM CDT

Judge cuts $2.4M ‘Cadillac Escalade’ legal fee bid by Beastie Boys, OKs $700K ‘Honda Civic’ award

Equating a bid by the Beastie Boys for reimbursement of a claimed $2.4 million in legal fees to a Cadillac Escalade, a federal judge in New York on Monday cut the award to a more reasonable “Honda Civic” version. U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer awarded the iconic hip-hop group only…

Jun 16, 2015 4:30 PM CDT

Former Dewey employee testifies he reclassified money paid to firm chairman

A former employee of Dewey & Leboeuf testified on Monday that he was ordered in 2011 to reclassify $1.4 million in disbursements to firm chairman Steven Davis, one of three former Dewey leaders on trial for an alleged scheme to mislead lenders and bond buyers about the firm’s finances. The…

Jun 16, 2015 11:26 AM CDT

Former Dewey controller testifies he falsified accounting records

The former controller of Dewey & LeBoeuf testified on Wednesday that he falsified accounting records to bolster the law firm’s income numbers in the years before its collapse. The former Dewey official, Thomas Mullikin, said his boss, finance director Francis Canellas, asked him to make the changes to avoid breaking…

Jun 11, 2015 9:38 AM CDT

UK court says ex-Dewey leader must repay $540K capital loan; he hopes US court will cancel it

Noting that a former practice group leader at Dewey & LeBoeuf was “not a naive or vulnerable consumer,” a U.K. judge on Tuesday said that he is bound by the terms of his $540,000 capital loan and must repay Barclays. Londell McMillan was “unwilling to accept what was plain on…

Jun 9, 2015 12:35 PM CDT

Littler is hiring for new Kansas City admin center as it lays off 113 staffers in San Francisco

After an announcement early this year that Littler Mendelson is consolidating administrative functions in one central office, the 1,000-attorney labor and employment powerhouse has been hiring in Kansas City, Missouri. and making layoffs elsewhere. Last month, chief operating officer Robert Domingues told the Kansas City Business Journal that the firm…

Jun 8, 2015 2:45 PM CDT

Few lawyers added at nation’s top law firms in 2014; which firms gained and lost the most?

Corrected: The nation’s top 350 law firms increased lawyer head count by only .6 percent last year, though there was modest growth in the ranks of nonequity partners, of counsel and staff lawyers. The top 350 law firms had a collective head count of 147,518 lawyers in 2014, an increase…

Jun 8, 2015 8:31 AM CDT

Former senator exits Bryan Cave after his testimony helped widow win $77M judgment from firm client

A former U.S. senator and state attorney general has exited Bryan Cave—after a career there that dated back to the early 1960s—following friction over his court testimony for a friend’s widow that helped her win a $77 million verdict against Wells Fargo. The $77 million judgment won by Barbara Morriss…

Jun 3, 2015 12:55 PM CDT

Google seeks to enforce subpoenas for communications between Jenner lobbyists and state AG

Google is asking a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to enforce subpoenas seeking information on communications involving lobbyists at Jenner & Block and Mississippi’s attorney general. Google contends the documents will show the Jenner lobbyists helped orchestrate actions against Google by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, the National Law Journal…

Jun 3, 2015 7:56 AM CDT

Up to 15 lawyers are exiting K&L Gates for Dallas office of McDermott

Three years after opening a Dallas office, McDermott Will & Emery is adding as many as 15 lawyers from a rival BigLaw firm. The group includes six K&L Gates partners, as well as up to nine other lawyers from that firm, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.) reports.…

Jun 1, 2015 4:05 PM CDT

Former Dewey partner testifies she lost $621K in equity capital while two leaders earned millions

Retired Dewey & LeBoeuf partner Jane Boisseau offered insight into the financial problems of the collapsed law firm and its impact on her in testimony Thursday in the fraud trial of three former Dewey leaders. Bouisseau, a former member of the executive committee, testified that firm chairman Steven Davis asked…

May 29, 2015 10:44 AM CDT