Jenkens & Gilchrist, R.I.P.

Maybe you’re grumpy because your firm hasn’t matched the latest associate pay raises. Maybe your clerkship bonus isn’t as big as the $50,000 now offered by Sullivan & Cromwell.
But at least you still have a job. From Bloomberg:

Jenkens & Gilchrist, a Dallas-based firm that once had 600 lawyers, is shutting down after reaching an accord with authorities to avoid prosecution for selling tax shelters that generated more than $1 billion in phony losses.

The firm admitted it developed and marketed fraudulent tax shelters and faces a $76 million fine, the Internal Revenue Service said.

The firm points a finger towards its Chicago office:

Jenkens & Gilchrist blamed its demise on unnamed lawyers in its Chicago office. That branch was closed on March 22.

“The Chicago tax shelter practice seriously undermined the firm’s long-standing reputation,” the firm said in a statement. “We deeply regret our involvement in this tax practice.”

This was probably ill-advised on the part of the firm:

Among the fraudulent shelters were transactions known as BOSS, BART and HOMER, prosecutors said in the agreement.

Guess those IRS types aren’t Simpsons fans.
Update: This Jenkens & Gilchrist promotional video is nothing short of mortifying.
Jenkens to Close After U.S. Agrees Not to Prosecute [Bloomberg]
U.S. Enters Non-Prosecution Pact With Jenkens & Gilchrist [WSJ Law Blog]

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