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It seems there are no more lawyers left at Dewey. The tab of “People” and “lawyer search” has been removed from the Dewey Website, though the “About Us” page still talks of “more than 1,100 lawyers in 26 offices.” The “Careers” page on United States starts with the line “Dewey & LeBoeuf succeeds thanks to the ambition and excellence of all its people.” Well, there are questions, lawsuits, and criminal investigations on way about the ‘excellence’ of some of its people, but no one has any doubts about the ‘ambition’ part. Of course the website clearly declares “Currently, there are no open positions. Please check here again as the firm’s needs change….”
Right now bankruptcy petitions may soon be filed though the firm has managed to wind down mostly outside the courts. But some people wouldn’t be able to flee. On Tuesday, Dewey replaced its restructuring advisor DSI with Zolfo Cooper. Joff Mitchell, senior managing director at Zolfo, is now the chief restructuring officer at Dewey.
Buyers of distressed debt, who bought Dewey’s debt at heavy discounts on the secondary market are coming together to drag the firm into bankruptcy proceedings. But where is the firm?
There are no lawyers, no associates, almost no staff, and the D.C. office landlord is suing for unpaid rent. Stephen Horvath III is the remaining executive partner at Dewey and Janis Meyer, the general counsel. Dewey has already laid off 433 of its 533 employees in New York and only a handful partners are still left in the firm, mostly because they are still negotiating with potential employers. More than 280 of the 300 partners are no more ‘on the same boat.’
The last member of Dewey’s five-member management committee, Charles Landgraf had joined Arnold & Porter on Wednesday.
Pension authorities, landlords, former employees, retired partners, all stakeholder groups have filed their lawsuits against Dewey.
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We knew for centuries that “too many cooks spoil the broth,” but the lesson of Dewey is definitely, “too many rainmakers brew a killer storm.”
Annette Jarvis of Dorsey & Whitney, who is representing a group of 51 retired pension partners belonging to LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae, the predecessor firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf, told the media on Wednesday that the firm “has to be put into a bankruptcy.”
Martin Bienenstock, the top bankruptcy partner at Dewey, who as recently as March 12 told the media that the firm has “no plan to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy” has already fled Dewey and is now camped at Proskaeur Rose.
