On Monday, Larry Eisenstat, Dickstein Shapiro’s head of energy practice, joined the Washington office of Crowell & Morning. Eisenstat, who was a member of Dickstein’s executive committee and used to handle crucial business decisions left with two partners and three junior members. He was known as one of the major forces behind Dickstein’s energy practice, though Dickstein has a sound energy practice that also includes that firm’s chairman.
Dickstein Shapiro seems to have taken the loss in its stride and the chairman of the firm, Mike Nannes seemed unperturbed while addressing the firm’s financial performance in a statement. Without mentioning the departures, he said about Dickstein, “We continue to position our firm for the future. With our fiscally sound, debt-free platform, we are confident in our market-leading practices, and clear about our path to continued prosperity.”
Since 2009, Dickstein has seen its headcount of lawyers fall from 360 to 308 and profits per partner fall from $1,050,000 to $950,000.
Eisenstat indicated in an interview that his departure was not linked with an announcement of change of leadership in the law firm, but aligned with Crowell’s geographic reach and clients in the energy sector. In May, Nannes had announced that he would step down and Jim Kelly, the leader of the corporate and finance group of Dickstein would take over as chairman of the law firm from January 2014.
Though Dickstein’s energy practice is quite big, the 300-lawyer firm is more famous for its insurance recovery, intellectual property and regulatory practices. In contrast, Crowell has a headcount of nearly 500 lawyers and engages in a wide range of practices across its 11 offices.