Brokeback Lawfirm: Gera Grinberg — Who Is This Guy?
The excellent New York Observer article that we mentioned earlier today, concerning the Brokeback Lawfirm litigation, contains many interesting tidbits. Anna Schneider-Mayerson, always an expert at digging up fascinating facts, has outdone herself this time. To read the entire piece, click here.
Here are some highlights that caught our attention. On the early settlement discussions:
According to a source familiar with Sullivan & Cromwell’s side of the litigation, Mr. Charney initially asked for $5 million, and Sullivan & Cromwell offered “a very small fraction” of that. Mr. Charney referred calls to his lawyers, and through its recently retained public-relations firm, Sullivan & Cromwell declined to comment.
On S&C’s countersuit:
“The debate was: ‘Would this help us or hurt us?’” said the source familiar with Sullivan & Cromwell’s legal strategy. “The downside in filing the suit was to prolong the story, to keep it on the front pages …. [But] we concluded that we were obligated to bring the lawsuit irrespective of what it did to us.”
On Sullivan & Cromwell’s latest filing, a motion to dismiss (which we’d love a copy of if anyone can send it to us):
On Feb. 13, Sullivan called on the judge to dismiss Mr. Charney’s complaint on the grounds that the case will reveal client and firm matters and secrets. In a footnote to the 22-page motion, the lawyers address Mr. Charney’s destruction of his hard drive with a snarl.“Charney’s attempt to blame S&C for his willful destruction of material information in violation of the New York Penal Code is false, contemptible and will be addressed at the appropriate time,” the note reads.
Update (9 PM): You can access a copy of the S&C motion to dismiss via this post.
And, finally, on Aaron Charney’s ex-associate and friend, Gera Grinberg:
In his complaint, Mr. Charney claimed, he was told that a Sullivan partner referred to their friendship as “unnatural” and that another partner thought they were too close. (That Sullivan associate, Gera Grinberg, has since been placed on paid leave.)
Gera Grinberg is a central figure in the Brokeback Lawfirm saga. He’s Ennis Del Mar to Aaron Charney’s Jack Twist.
(We’re making Gera the more butch one because he’s reportedly straight. Also, based on this comment and this one, it seems that Aaron Charney was basically Gera Grinberg’s bitch.)
But unlike the other figures in this story — Eric Krautheimer, Alexandra Korry, David Braff, etc. — we know so little about Gera Grinberg. Heck, we can’t even find a photograph of the guy.
We’d like that to change. We hereby request any and all information and rumor you might have about Gera Grinberg — what he was like in law school, what he was like to work with at S&C, baby pictures, etc. Please send what you have to us by email. Thanks!
P.S. Yes, we have contacted Grinberg’s staggeringly prestigious lawyers, Gallion & Spielvogel, for confirmation that he is now on paid leave. But we don’t expect to hear back from them, since they’ve ignored most of our prior inquiries.
P.P.S. If you’re troubled by this mini-investigation into Gera Grinberg, we have three responses:
(1) Grinberg is a public figure — a major player, in a publicly filed lawsuit, that’s of great interest to the legal and gay/lesbian communities.(2) We are all public figures now. Check out this great article, by Emily Nussbaum.
As Nussbaum writes, “The future belongs to the uninhibited.” Trying to fight the loss of privacy is a rearguard action. So just embrace it.
(3) You’re entitled to your opinion about what is or is not appropriate for us to write about. We’re entitled to ignore you. You’re entitled not to read this blog.
Remember: we’ve discovered our inner diva.
Associate Gets Crushed Beneath White Shoe [New York Observer]
Earlier: Brokeback Lawfirm: A Runway Report (Part 1)
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Comments
I dont really care either way, but you clearly dont know the meaning of
"public figure."
white girls with asian guys
Based on the fact that he works at S&C - we can safely conclude he wasn't a tier 2 student.
tier2 grads with biglaw job
L2L is such a troll. Why don't you post something of substance!
Loyola 2L will be sad -- Grinberg is actually about Tier 4
Education
2001, University of British Columbia Faculty of Law, LL.B.
1994, Kwantlen University College, Diploma of Arts
2:08, Woah woah woah what is your basis for that conclusion?
BCFOLG,
Let me see, what is the basis for my conclusion that Grinberg has a Tier 4 Edumacation -- is it because there are virtually no BCFOLG's in NYC practicing BigLaw.
yea, maybe that's it.
Remember - Canadians are irrelevant.
Shouldn't you be looking at Canadian placement?
What's up with the whole PAID LEAVE thing for Grinberg? What does it mean?
BCFofLG at 2:09
Don't you mean: 2:08, Woah woah woah what is your basis for that conclusion, Eh?
kwantlen appears to be a school located in british columbia.
any further info would be appreciated.
This poor guy did nothing except be gratuitously named in a lawsuit he didn't even file. You're requesting this mini-investigation for tibdits that make it easier to make fun of him.
Look, if people bring it on themselves (Scalia's daughter, Shanetta), then fine. But if you're going to blow open this guy's life for public ridicule just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that pretty much sucks.
And I agree with the other poster - you have a strange definition of "public figure." This poor guy didn't do anything to deserve what is about to happen to him.
2:17,
It looks like Grinberg's career has been damaged as a result of this spectacle. I hope he can recover. He seems like an innocent bystander.
"discovering you inner diva" is just a poorly veiled euphamism for abandoning your basic civil decency. Spin it all you want, but you can't ignore that's what you're doing. Leave this guy alone.
If you want to see abandonment of basic civil decency look to see how I've been treated here over the last week. All because I'm a tier 2 grad.
Not fair, Anonymous. It's quite well veiled.
Dear BCFOLG,
No, I shouldn't be looking at Canadian placement.
here's how it goes (for corporate lawyers):
Tier 1: NYC
Tier 2 : London
Tier 3: Hong Kong
Tier 4: Everywhere else
So by definition, since Candians are irrelevant Tier 4 practitioners of the art of Corporate Legal Practice, and since he graduated from a Canadian Law School -- and not even a good one like McGill -- he must be Tier 4. Sorry, that's the way it is.
It's way too cold up there anyway, dontcha think?
Lat, I gotta say i am disappointed. It's as if you have nothing so you are digging. Leave this poor guy alone. Isn't it bad enough he's not gay and has to endure Brokeback Law Firm addn now is on "paid leave" whatever the heck that is? Can you imagine what it must be like if he's not even a citizen? Holy cow. leave him be.
How about "discovering your inner diva" is a really poor attempt to justify blowing someone else's life open for public ridicule?
How about posting the S&C motion to dismiss that the Obsever claims was filed yestereday rather than waiting your time on GG? That seems to be the real news.
And Charney's affidavit detailing his destruction of the hard drive - with full research and deference to his Fifth Amendment rights - was due to be filed today.
100% agree with 2:20.
it's very easy to make a riskless allegation, very difficult to rid yourself of the resulting bad publicity.
and the fact that some hack at new york magazine quotes a bartender doesn't justify pointing this guy out for ridicule.
Please let Lat do his job. He's a reporter.
That S&C motion to dismiss sounds pretty ridiculous -- sounds like the "state secrets" doctrine that the Bush Administration is using to try to get rid of the lawsuit against its warrantless eavesdropping.
Lawrence Doyle is the Director of Administration for the firm. He has over 20 years of experience in legal management posts.
He initially served the law in the capacity of a certified paralegal, and later, discovering he had a talent for troubleshooting procedural operations problems, entered graduate school earning a Masters in Managerial Sciences. Combining organizational theory with pragmatic, real world solutions, he has excelled at forging effective legal and business teams throughout his career that have met or exceeded client and firm expectations.
Larry’s began his career at the Corporation Counsel’s Office of New York City where he rose steadily through the ranks carving out managerial territory that had been the sole province of administrative attorneys before. After achieving recognized success, Larry was recruited to join the managerial ranks of the prominent litigation firm, Weitz & Luxenberg. Additionally he was the Administrator at the Brecher Fishman law firm, the largest compensation law practice in southern New York State for ten years.
Prior to joining G&C, Larry was the the legal administrator for the boutique commercial real estate law firm Carb Luria Cook & Kufeld LLP, where he was involved in all aspects of the firm’s administration and marketing.
He and his family reside in Flushing, Queens where Larry serves his local parish as a lector. Larry’s interests include skiing and scuba diving, travel and art. Larry is a past member of the New York State Trial Lawyers and the American Trial Lawyers Associations. He is also a member of the Society of Human Resource Management, a board member of the NYC Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrator and a past vice president of the New York City Paralegal Association.
2:55
Is it Gaillion and Spielvogel redux?
Anyone seen the S&C Motion to Dismiss? Are they really making the argument that layers cannot sue their law firm employers? It is the strangest thing I have heard of in a long time. If that's as good as they've got...
Ooops. Lawyers.^3:07
Looks like L2L is on the WSJ law blog now. http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/02/14/the-law-a-profession-a-trade-or-both-part-ii/
This article gives me the sense that the PR tides have turned.
everyone relax - all i want to know about Gera is whether he is "real world" fuckable or just "we're trapped in this building doing a life-consumming job with no time to meet real human beings" fuckable. i've had plenty of the later, and too few of the former.
also, is L2L from Loyola in LA or Chicago? I'd like to know which school and its alumni i should feel embarrassed for.
It's spelled "consuming."
Well re PR Tides, it did say in some news article that S&C had retained some hotsy totsy PR firm.
L2L: It's spelled "o-b-s-e-s-s-i-v-e" - also acceptable: "p-a-t-h-e-t-i-c"
NL2L @ 2:29 - How is Australia not ahead of Hong Kong for corporate law training? Those damn Aussies are everywhere!
L2L is from Loyola in Los Angeles, not Chicago. His problem seems psychological, though, and I'm sure were he here, he'd be whining that Sidley didn't hire him...
So Grinberg gets "paid leave" while the alleged vicious harassers and retaliators, Krautheimer and Korry, go about their day?
What did Grinberg ever do that's allegedly illegal? Apparently psycho partners have the firm by the balls. No wonder Charney felt he was being retaliated against, and that there was no "real" investigation. They won't even put the HARASSERS on leave.
If McGill is your example of a good Canadian law school.....
Paid leave isn't a punishment, Anonymous. It's paid plus leave. I'm up for some of that if you've got it. Me, I have to earn my living.
If Grinberg and Charney were acting as a block and a "management problem" as Charney alleged, what happened to Grinberg as a result? We've seen from Charney's suit that Charney thinks he was retailiated against as a result of his "unnatural" relationship with Grinberg. Was Grinberg? If not, doesn't that lend support to Charney's complaint that he was discriminated against because he is gay, as opposed to Grinberg, who it has been stated isn't gay? If Grinberg is the senior associate of the two, you'd think that if the people at S&C had a real problem with him and Charney, the powers that be would have spoken to him about it. Maybe he's the keeper of the two? Did he know Charney was going to file the suit and that Grinberg would be named?
Is "paid leave" S&C's way of saying "you're fired"?
I agree that Grinberg's personal life should be left of out this. Interested in the professional aspects of this.
Grinberg is literally the most obnoxious and annoying lawyer I know at the firm. I hope he gets ripped to shreds in this process -- trust me, he deserves it. I tried SO HARD not to respond to this or get involved in any of this sad mess, but when it comes to Grinberg, it's just physically impossible. He was a so-so attorney who thought he was god's gift to the legal profession. Think about it -- one has to be a complete egotistical narcissist in order to essentially abduct Charney and have him work in his office EVERY SINGLE DAY as though Charney was his own personal assistant. S&C's culture puts a lot of emphasis on independence -- sure they want you to play well together, but if you can't stand up and speak for yourself, you will gain no respect and no authority at that place. Put it this way, Grinberg didn't even sit on the M&A floor with the group (which was very tight knit). He refused to move to the floor and instead, stayed up in his ivory tower on one of the litigation floors!?!? Personally, I think this evinces just plain laziness because I rarely heard of this kid pulling all-nighters (as is plain vanilla custom in the M&A group) -- he stayed up there to stay "under the radar" and slide by... he took Charney along for the low ride it seems. I actually feel bad for Charney in a small, tiny, microscopic way -- if you saw those two walking down the hall together -- with Charney following close behind Grinberg, shoulders slouched, eyes down -- you'd almost get the impression that he was brain-washed by Grinberg.
Trust me, the guy is THE definition of narcissist.
Grinberg went to UBC Law, as did I. I did not know him well (he was a year ahead of me) but he had a rep as a bit of a dick. He didn't socialize much, but was definitely very driven to get to NY and work for S&C and by all accounts had a pretty healthy ego and a rather set self-image - I imagine this whole mess must be ripping his guts out.
Steven Spielvogel was, for a time, a prof or adjunct-prof at UBC Law, which is where Grinberg met him. Spielvogel attracted something of a coterie of corporate-wannabe suck-ups - I think Grinberg was in this group, but wouldn't swear to it.
Kwantlen is a community college - probably unable to grant degrees until the 1990s - to get into Law School from there is actually pretty impressive.