1 = loser who said first

firms should charge more than $175K to become an equity partner. that is just silly. no wonder the model is broken.

wake up, time to read about layoffs and dissolutions.

What rank out of Chicago for this firm?

more proof that the law is not a prestigous or honorable profession.

As an associate at Morgan Finnegan, all I can say is...

THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS FOR JOHN MCCAIN!

3 - Locke Lord's PPP isn't that high - definitely under a million.

Check out page 7 (Attachment B) of the Sweeney letter. Interesting data about realization rates.

#8 - the target comp is $1 = $1.6 you illiterate fool.

regardless, even if it was $1 even, paying $175K for an ROI of $1mm per year would be a bargain in any other business setting. My point is that the entire concept of the "equity partner" should be more exclusive... and come at a higher cost. those seats should be at least $500K per piece. This is something ALL firms should do differently.

10 is a freaking moron. You are not buying the income you dolt.

Co-sign 11. This is not a passive income stream. You also have to work for it (1900 client-billable hours, per the offer letters).

You see that Pfizer is acquiring Wyeth in a $68 Billion acquisition?

You know who has traditionally been Pfizer's outside M&A counsel?

it rhymes with Schmadwalader, Wickersham & Taft

Good Morning!

No surprise. IP Sucks and will only get worse.

Fish & Neave - acquired by Ropes & Gray. Morgan & Finnegan - effectively acquired by Locke Lord.

Is the freestanding IP boutique a thing of the past?

Fuck. I thought IP practices were supposed to be immune to this recession.

IP is the most susceptible to outsourcing.

CADWALADER IS BACK!

16 - management is as important as the practice.

expect to see more big deals like Pfizer's acquisition of Wyeth. Ok, maybe not many more $68B deals, but expect more deals.

The real question is not whether the deals will be done, it's how much the billing rates will be squeezed.

like rats . . . . fleeing a sinking ship.

17 is a moron.

What does this have to do with the rumored layoffs at Cahill?

Didn't half of Morgan's IP lawyers go to Schmadwalader last year?

The attorneys who were not picked up by Locke Lord kinda got shafted. Or they dodged a bullet, depending on your view of the firm. Either way, best of luck to them. One would think that IP lawyers are the most likely to get new employment in this economy.

IP boutiques are a thing of the past. General practice firms are a thing of the future.

If you are an IP attorney who does only patent prosecution, then your job is in danger - it will either be outsourced or pushed around in tiny IP firms with low pay.

Only IP litigation stands on par with other practice areas.

26 - "General practice firms"? You mean like firms that do personal injury and wills and estates and uncontested divorces and drunk driving arrests?

From Morgan & Finnegan to Locke Lord you say? Sounds like Gould and Sweeney have jumped from the Titanic onto the bow of the Lusitania!

27 - no you idiot. General practice firms, in this blog, generally mean BIGLAW firms that have many practice areas, spanning from complex corporate litigation to corporate law. See V50.

What's interesting is that Sweeney--with a $6mm book--apparently won't even get to keep all of his own billings--note that his net realization is $1.7mm+ and his target comp is only $1.6mm. Similar situation for Gould. If that's normal, what's the point?

Great, great post. The offer letters are fascinating, particularly the exhibits. Good stuff.

29 - Ah, you mean diversified practice.

Tool.

30 - Um, remember that the associates have to get paid, the rent has to get paid, the staff has to get paid, etc.,etc., etc.

oh heavens: justmarvy.blogspot.com

32 - no one calls these firms "diversified practice" firms, hence the moniker "general practice" firms. Fool.

22 is about to be outsourced.

- 17

why are you guys so mean to each other?

Tomato, tomahto . . .

37 - Because everybody here is a lawyer.

and lawyers are assholes.

I would rather tackle a bus than move over to Schlock, Bord and Snizzle. Their Houston office is a pit of sweaty disgusting, obese Texan hogs.

15, Pennie & Edmonds, acquired by Jones Day...

Finnegan Henderson and Fish & Richardson will probably stay strong and independent, but there have been a lot of IP boutiques merged into larger firms over the past few years.

Lat, thanks for sharing the letters. I've never seen a lateral partner offer and it is indeed interesting.

So glad I turned down my offer from MF and went with Jones Day. 26 is very correct. I've seen it first hand.

27/32 = retarded

26 you are right on.
People think they've discovered some "immune" are.

Companies are moving towards flat fee for preparation. Boutiques cannot compete. Its just not a profitable practice area.

Townsend out in the Silicon Valley still seems to be alive and kicking as well, and so does Knobbe down in OC. A few of the more prominent IP shops may very well survive.

42 - FH and FR are the exceptions that prove the rule that IP boutiques are a thing of the past. Fortunately for them, FH and FR do mostly IP litigation and only do prosecution in order to garner more clients for litigation.

Any other IP boutiques that are particularly strong?

Not when clients want flat fee prosecution. THey are fighting clients over this, and fighting for clients who do not require this.

And regardless of what the law is NOW, very soon, much prosecution work (but not all) will go the way of doc review - contract and foreign attorneys.

17 - Only prosecution is really susceptible to outsourcing, not litigation, counseling or licensing work, and frankly, even the prosecution coming out of places you'd think of as outsourced shops is NOT the same as what you get from a quality law firm.

- Former BigLaw IP lawyer (now in-house)

Who did Morgan even represent, anyway?

Locke Lord will be a sinking ship within the year.

49 - it will be pushed to get better.
Plus, frankly, client's don't care. They just want cheap, cheap, cheap. The best boutiques can try and convince them otherwise.

52 is right. Moreover, clients will push for cheap prosecution because 99% of patents out there are worthless. It makes no sense to spend $$$ on a patent that most likely will just sit there. Sure there are exceptions, but that just proves the rule.

This is the exact opposite of litigation, where often $$$ are on the line. Licensing, counseling are sufficiently related to avoiding litigation that clients may pay a decent amount of cash.

They shoulda held on to Pitcock.

(speaking of which, Lat/ATL, what's the latest on that sordid tale? it was the most readable piece of 2008)

Agree with 53 - no way in a frozen-over Hell that I am going to trust outsourcing with handling patent litigation or anything related to it.

My Dyson would kick the crap out of a run of the mill Bissell any day, friendo.

42, to be accurate, Pennie dissolved and then select attorneys joined Jones Day - much the same way that MF is going about it.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1075219808262

Pennie did not dissolve for economic reasons. They got into hot water with subject matter conflicts. See also Burns Doane.

Even sending your doc review to outsourcing shops is just begging for trouble. Trust me, I know.

Prominent boutiques should be able to stay alive (or willingly be swallowed by BigLaw shops) because smart lawyers will not trust their livelihoods (and their clients' futures) to unknown faceless people in third world countries with known quality and security issues. The client can tell you to go cheap now, but when the outsourcing firm screws up, will they really honor those disclaimers you gave them, or will they blame you anyway? We all know the answer.

-- 49

53, nobody is concerned with excessive outsourcing of litigation.

What concerns us prosecutors is (1) as 52 points out, any attorney managing clients knows they want prosecution on the cheap. If my secretary could respond to an office action that is what the client would want; (2) as 48 rightly (unfortunately) acknowledges is that clients want flat fee prosecution. $5,000 to prep and file, $500 for RR, $1000 max for response to first OA. They are willing to be flexible with appeals, but with big institutional clients, they expect flat, low, predictable fees. These are hard for attorneys to ethically and realistically accommodate.

Patent prosecution involves distilling an "inventive essence" to a verbal description. This is very difficult work and the quality of the product very much effects litigation outcomes.

However, sometimes corporations want to file a bunch of poorly-written patents to intimidate the market. This is the sort of prosecution that can be outsourced without worry.

47 - check out this list:

Just about any boutique in the top 20 of that list (~750+ patents issued per year) is strong, at least as far as prosecution goes. Not sure where Morgan & Finnegan were.

47 - check out this list:

http://www.iptoday.com/articles/2008-3-top-patent-firms.asp

Just about any boutique in the top 20 of that list (~750+ patents issued per year) is strong, at least as far as prosecution goes. Not sure where Morgan & Finnegan were.

First to say i was layed off by morgan today!

53-

So, if patents are worthless, why are licensing, litigation, and counseling profitable?

Fool.

59, unfortunately not all lawyers are smart. As the drive to push up PPP pushes costs down and as accommodating client demands is, for better or worse, part of our job, this is an unfortunate reality.

There will always be considerable traditional, expensive, patent prosecution. But that is slowly shifting, and will continue to shift, to flat fee work (either in the US or outside). Every firm struggles with this and moreso, every attorney managing a client struggles with this. Especially institutional clients, who demand predictability.

Its not a matter of whether it is a "good idea" to move to lower cost forms of prosecution. Its a matter of what is actually occurring.

Did any of the 1st years get picked up, or are they all effectively laid off?

65, it is not that patents are worthless. It is that clients do not want to pay boutique or biglaw rates for prosecution.

65, I don't mean this pejoratively, but are you a law student? Nobody is saying that patents are worthless. What we are saying is that client demands and the realities of legal services don't mesh well. Especially in a down economy.

Litigation is profitable because of the huge amount of money on the line. Litigation is typically managed by a different in-house area of a client, a combo of their IP counsel and chief in-house counsel. Prosecution is handled by some form of IP counsel operating on a budget, and what s/he wants is application no. 11/xxx,xxx prosecuted as cheaply as possible. They do not see ahead to future litigation.

65 - you twisted my words. Patents are not per se worthless, just the vast majority of them. The few that are worth their fees are the ones companies use in licensing, litigation, and counseling. More often than not, patents just sit there and are not used in any way whatsoever. Fool.

Here's to hoping 64 got two-months WARN payment.

Look at section 2(e) in both offer letters. Both letters specify the positions of both Gould and Sweeney.

69-

Since you've never seen a patent, think about contracts.

Mostly, the parties get along and the contract goes unlitigated-- but that hardly justifies outsourcing the transactional work.

Why? Because when it does get litigated, a poorly drafted contract will cause you lose regardless of your skill as a litigator.

Fool. Your serve.

Wow - If I was one of those partners that are listed in the LL memos, listing my status, hourly rate and other details of my practice I would be pretty upset right now....

See how these offer letters complete with exhibits made it to the Internet? That's why you should treat your secretaries with respect.

Ha ha ha, there is a shitload of information in those exhibits!

72 - we're not saying that is is OK that clients want such cheap work. We're saying its the reality. From the language used here, many people sound like prosecutors, some seem to be partners or senior associates familiar with client management.

Our client's don't realize that only one of the 500 apps we file this year is going to be *the* one. Its a client expectation thing.

72 - your contract analogy falls flat. Contracts are created to positively govern a relationship between parties. In other words, it will certainly be utilized to govern how the parties should interact.

Patents, on the other hand, are not necessarily used at all. The vast majority just sit there. Only when the invention described is sufficiently useful/innovative/etc. will it come into play. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen nearly often enough to justify paying large fees for all patents.

How much do you think biglaw CFO's and Chief Admin Officers make?

72/65 practice for a few years. Then come back here with your silly contract/patent analogy.

Wow, a lot of info on LLB in those memos.

The more contract and foreign attorneys write patents, the more I will kill their clients' patents.

-IP litigator

33-

Um, that's what the OTHER $4.5mm of his book pays for. If you're the top guy, you should **at least** keep what you bill and collect. His collections are estimated at ~10% over his comp and his comp is ONLY ~25% of his book. The head-of-group-type guys I know (and have some idea of their comp) make significantly MORE than their personal billings, provided that their book is a multiple of their billings (i.e., they aren't tax guys servicing M&A clients).

-30

LLB is such a second tier shop it makes my eyes bleed just to type this. MF should be very afraid.

US filing of foreign apps is a high work/low $ reward business.

As other companies have money and our businesses don't, expect to file a lot more of these. Killer for the bottom line.

77-

The fact is that both can be subjects of high-stakes litigation, and in both cases poor drafting will get your tail kicked.

Sweeney bills 2,900 hrs/yr average? Sure...

84 - I don't deny that. I'm just describing why clients try to pay as little as possible for prosecution, and why they're succeeding.

I hope Gould and Sweeney are reading this. YOU SOLD US OUT.

wait, so by my count, they took all the NYO partners except those who are "of counsel" and Joe D?

YES. THEY SOLD US OUT.

they sold us all out

Shout-out to ATL on Am Law Daily:

http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2009/01/report-locke-lord-to-hire-bulk-of-morgan-finnegan.html

Shame on them.

So how many first years got picked up?

I wonder why anyone would want Gould. He is one sexual harassment suit waiting to happen. Sweeney has not won a case since Paragon in 1997 and has no real steady clients. Just one shot deals that he bleeds to death. Feiler if you read his bio, one would think he is a world class litigator, but truth be told he has not worked on a case since Mobil in 1993. He is one giant ass, real lazy and thinks his shit does not stink. He lost a client because he refused to fly coach and comes to work 1 or 2 days a week. Blackburn produces documents without looking at them and writes memos assigning fault to associates when they make an error. There upper management was downright bad. There current Admin director never moves out from behind desk and managed via e-mail and makes comments about the way people look (height and weight). This was the former Chief of HR and Admin at Saul Ewing and director of HR at Weil. There Finance director is a very nice guy. Someone you would want to play golf or have a beer with, but could not finance a 2009 Hummer with 0 down and no interest for 72 months. There middle management was very good. Kept the firm running without help or any direction from above and always went the extra mile. IT, library, docketing, accounting, office services and records managers are all excellent managers. The former Paralegal/Facilities manager was exceptional and HR manager was also excellent. I was sorry when they were let go for no reason in August, other than they were disliked by the Admin Director. They also have some excellent staff working over there with many long term employees.

shame, shame, shame

Gould is also pompous. Sweeney is a sexual harrassment suit waiting to happen too. I heard that Feiler, "The Brain" (think pinky and the Brain) once lost a huge client over a dispute on a $100 charge on the bill. But really, there hasn't been anyone good left there for years. Any lawyer who was dumb enough to stay is just plain dumb. Every firm in the city knows not to pick up M&F leftovers at this point.

This makes me so happy. I know it shouldn't, but it does. :)

What makes you happy? The fact that many good lawyers are out of a job because of greedy partners that lose clients over pompousness? Why would this make you happy, because you still have a job? Or because you are a dolt?

Thanks for sharing the offer letters and to whomever obtained them originally. The letters show the true colors of the firm and how they left their associates out to dry.

94 - That is some good hate. Much appreciated.

Chocolate Rain! Another law firm spirals down the drain.
Chocolate Rain! Just like Heller, Thacher, it's insane.

My roommate works at this firm. Or I guess, I should say he used to work there. He says that there was zero indication from the top partners that this was coming, although everyone kinda felt it . Looks like the wool they pulled over everyone's eyes were also hiding some wolves...

Guess it'll be nice to see him at home for a change, though.

Surprised no one's mentioned Darby & Darby

96, there isn't a name for a person who takes a huge sh_t on people who just lost their jobs. You are truly in a league of your own. People stayed at the firm because it was a great place to work. In some offices the employees are (were) like family. There are (were) a lot of quality attorneys and staff that were cast off today in a disgusting manner. Don't penalize them for the thoughless actions of a couple of partners who were looking out for themselves.

96, there isn't a name for a person who takes a huge sh_t on people who just lost their jobs. You are truly in a league of your own. People stayed at the firm because it was a great place to work. In some offices the employees are (were) like family. There are (were) a lot of quality attorneys and staff that were cast off today in a disgusting manner. Don't penalize them for the thoughless actions of a couple of partners who were looking out for themselves.

The place was never the same after they stopped with the Bagel Breakfasts. RIP bagel breakfasts.

104/105: 96 here - I feel badly for the staff, and I feel badly for the junior associates who probably didn't know better. But anyone who has been there more than a couple of years knew this was a long time coming and should have jumped ship with the scores of other people who did. The actions of the partners is not surprising to anyone who knows them - they've never looked out for anyone but their own. So I stand by what I said - any attorney who stayed there more than a couple of years had his/her head up his/her a$$.

The place was never the same after they stopped with the Bagel Breakfasts. RIP bagel breakfasts.

The place was never the same after they stopped with the Bagel Breakfasts. RIP bagel breakfasts.

104 - Chris, shut up.

Props to Tay Zonday. Well-played.

/steps away from the mic to take a breath/

Come on, y'all, don't expect your biglaw employers to do anything but sell you out, pull the wool over your eyes, stab you in the back, give you the shaft, etc., etc. It is the nature of the beast. Frankly, I'll be disappointed if I'm not blindsided in the next couple o' months. Don't hate the playas, hate the game.

111 is right - it's not personal that the associates and staff were sold out. And besides, as a business matter the firm probably couldn't continue - what were they supposed to do?

LAYOFFS? Don't talk about -- LAYOFFS?!?! You kiddin' me? LAYOFFS???

The real question is who will snap up the many talented softball players who worked out of that office. I have it on good information one of them could bean you in the goolies at close range without breaking a sweat.

When headhunters move an entire group of lawyers, how much do they get paid for that?

What the hell is LLB thinking by taking on all that dead weight. These are the people who thought they could cost cut there way out there loss of revenue. Instead of getting up off there asses and trying to get business they focused on eliminating milk for coffee, plates and spoons.

114 - I saw that game. Your information is definitely good. But the drinks at Dougherty's made it all ok.

I feel bad for people out of a job, but anyone who joined them within the past 2-3 years have only themselves to blame. Partners and associates have been fleeing for some time. Rumors of mergers go back to 2000 when it was thought that Pennie (yes pre-Jones Day) was going to merge. Their management has been dismal for years. Amazing that they have lasted this long. A slow and painful death.

@94:

THERE, THEIR, THEY'RE.

Learn them. Use them properly.

Signed,

Lawyers for Basic Literacy

If you look at the attachments to the letters, it looks like they are paying annual compensation to M&F associates of over $6,000,000. That means they're bringing quite a few associates with them. Overall, it sounds like very few are out of jobs. I bet the dissolution vs. merger had something to do with debts and the desire to get rid of the of counsel people.

Wow. 116 could use some grammar lessons too.

Outstanding, 113.

Hey, anyone know what's going to happen to the Stamford, CT office that has been empty since Riddles and Downing left for Crowel. Great business decision!!

M&F softball was top notch, Danny. Top notch.

120, ok, so they took 30ish people along for the ride - how many will lose their jobs as a result of this act? It's hardly altruism guy - they burned the village and took a few of the women with them on the way out with the gold, food and water.

If llb&b enforces a dress code, Wayda will be out of a job within a week. Her one pair of black sweatpants won't make the cut. She may also have to take a bath.

119 chill out. It's a blog, not English class. Who really cares it was funny and right on the money.

87 et seq. "sold out" doesnt even scratch the surface.
106- or the brownbag patent lunches.
126- free new edition bluebook to anyone who can stomach more than 15 minutes in a conference room with both sweeney and wayda. f*ck. getting a headache just thinking about it. sounds like a stunt Steve-O and Pontius would try on Jackass. 1.6 mill- maybe now sweeney can get rid of the baby blue seersucker he's been wearing since 1973, nonstop.
94- last time sweeney "won" a case? sweeney never won a case. he put wayda on that team and the other side defaulted- even the judge wouldnt show up any more.
one of sweeney's finer efforts included taking an infringement case on behalf of a plaintiff...on contingency...:result was invalid patent, and plaintiff had to pay $4m. kid you not.
oh.. and gould, simply put, is a moron.
locke liddell: May the force be with you. You may want to ask obama to throw a few things in the rescue hopper for you guys too.

what happened to the kanes? are they not going?

126 - LOL!!!! But don't forget that in addition to the sweatpants, Mandrea has that blue tie dye dress thing. Classic.

125 - they only have about 30 associates, so they're taking almost all of them.

Kanes are probably retiring. Poor Joe D, I liked him. And it's not like he's less incompetent than Gould or Feiler or Mandrea or the rest.

126 & 130 - you both forgot to mention how mandrea raids the stale food sitting in conference rooms after a meeting and puts it in plastic bags and takes it home for dinner. how about the pumpkin and coke bottle earings earrings

128 - sweeney and gould did win the paragon case lets give credit where it's due, but it was 11 years ago and he lost the client

Blackburn is a big !%$hole. maybe bigger than Feiler. don't know how he worked at M&F after they fired his wife.

Blackburn always seemed nice to me, but I never worked with him. Kimber was awesome, but as a woman she had to be fired.

First, to the shortsighted dullards who've insinuated that a certain fashion-challenged butch would not fit in with some folks from Texas, I'd point out that she's been wearing her Fistful of Dollars poncho for years. How could that Clint inspired garment and the western-wear shirt collection not fit in with a Texas outfit? What's that you say, western ponchos normally laid over the backs of burros in the Grand Canyon and square dance-caller shirts are inappropriate for 'smart casual' dress policies? FIE to you with that backward attitude. Go take a sail on the Shearwater, the invigorating winds of the Hudson are sure to refresh you.

Second, M&F was once a great place peopled with good associates and partners who were not total jerks. There were even pompadoured security guards and candy-store oompa loompas to entertain, not to mention nearly unlimited toilets to defile in privacy on level B. The short sightedness of patent geeks (not the savviest management/biz folks) allowed dead wood, failure to merge, ill-advised moves and satellite office openings and general tomfoolery to drag down what otherwise could have remained a great firm. Moreso, a management coup forced out Don Imus just before he came into a new slew of business, only to see the coup-leaders flee the building after he took his four-paneled Tommy Hill shirt right across the street. A true comedy of errors.

It doesn't matter, the WFC blows, working downtown blows, and any M&Fer worth his or her salt knows it was all over when 345 Park was vacated. This writing has been on the wall for more than 5 years, but it doesn't make the final conclusion any less sad. We'll always have Poppy swimming around in his white boxer shorts -- they can't take that away from us.

Let's not forget wayda's collection of Kimonos.

For those that think Fish & Richardson and Finnegan Henderson are insulated, don't. Both have been conducting stealth layoffs since October, with more to come. F&R has also froze salaries....At FH, one person was let go after two weeks on the job.

I've never heard of either of those firms, but my sympathies go out to the laid off associates. Good luck!

I've just learned that Pitcock is actually sailing the IDEC 'round the Horn -- he's going to return with silks, spices, and a vast collection of billable hours the likes of which ye've never seen.

94, it's obvious that you are one of the dismissed middle managers you praise so extensively. You probably have a voice like Mike Tyson and a build resembling a bowling ball. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

Not everyone can be a Kenyon & Kenyon. Record profits for 2008 be-atches.

Here Here 133! Good Ol' Poppy, I forgot about him. And I forgot about the ponchos and the square dance shirts too (but that was probably a good thing).

Once upon a time M&F was a fun place, but it died when it moved to WFC. Everyone who went down there knew it. It's about time we laid it to rest- it's been a mere shell of its former self for years.

Ug, it's so sad to see a 100+ year old firm run into the ground. My heart goes out to all the staff and the associates that were brought down the path. They should have seen the writing on the wall, but the management, from what I hear, made it easier for them to be in denial. Some things are clearer from the outside looking in.

GOULD AND SWEENEY RUINED MORGAN & FINNEGAN. THEY SOLD US ALL OUT. HAVE A NICE LIFE...NOT!

142 so true. I too was let go on Monday.

142 so true. I too was let go from Morgan & Finnegan on Monday.

It was Straussman & Co. that ruined M&F when they forced out the guy who went to 1 WFC.

M&F has been on life support for awhile. I also heard rumblings at Fish. I still remember last year when the readjusted the pay scale after trying to compete with the large, GP firms. Couldnt do. Now, they are still stuck in a high pay range, and despite what they want you to believe, for a 400 person firm, they dont do enough litigation to keep the cut rate prosecution end going at that high pay rate...and they do a lot of prosecution. if I were a 4-7th year prep/pros guy at FR, I would make sure my resume is on the street, maybe not actively searching, but at least keeping an eye on things.

no, i dont work at FR. I think it is a great firm, but their cost structure will be difficult to manage, even with the stealth layoffs and pay freeze.

145- i agree. M&F had its best $ year in its history in 2007, but it all came to a halt and went down hill when the dead wood forced out all the partners with business.

It's over can we please let the blog die.

So does this mean that the Matthew Blackburn run tiny California (SF) office of M&F will now become the SF office of Locke Lord?

Locke Lord right now has no SF office.

So does this mean that the Matthew Blackburn run tiny California (SF) office of M&F will now become the SF office of Locke Lord?

Locke Lord right now has no SF office.

118, Don'f feel badly as some of the staff got what they deserved...what goes around comes around!! They should have seen the writing on the wall and the greed that was coming from above.....what a shame.

I hope none of the attorneys going to Locke Lord from Morgan Finnegan are African American's, because all of the African Americans have walked out of Locke Lord's Atlanta office, due to internal diversity issues and the fact that Neil Dickson and Pat Hatfield are back stabbing, power hungry wannabe's. Neil Dickson stabbed Corliss Lawson and Michael Coleman in the back, and Dickson now has the Managing Partner (ATL) job that Lawson and Coleman previously held (just follow the timeline and the resignations of the African American's). Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell's Atlanta office is a management and diversity mess!

To #151

Screw you. Unless you worked there and saw and felt firsthand how we were treated by the partnership -- ignored and treated very cruel, I would suggest you shut your mouth. I was there. I know. Where would like all of us to get jobs - Target ?

Locke Lord Bissell is a horrible place to work (all of the offices)!

Locke Lord Bissell is a horrible place to work (all of the offices)!

Locke Lord Bissell is a horrible place to work (all of the offices)! Only rejects work there!

Locke Lord Bissell is a horrible place to work (all of the offices)! Only rejects work there!

151 your are one cold person. Someone should post the e-mail staff received a few weeks ago and everyone would see what a-holes were running the place. I don't have it. it is on my desk were i used to work. They took the money for health insurance for the entire month up front with very little notice. I guess the they don't understand that some of us little people live week to week. it was right after Christmas. Very cold.

Neil Dick-son of a B!

Neil Dick-son of a B!

The e mployees that were let go were given a possibility of severance Which translates to no severance. They won' be able to get health insurance as the firm is discontinuing the insurance sometime in the first quarter of 2009. As anyoe knows you can't get COBRA if the firm no longer exists and discontinued their insurance. Maybe Sweeny and Gould and ther rest of the their group of backstabbing partners could use the money they have and help these people out. LOL. As far as people of color at Morgan, there are no associates of color and have never been. Morgan was a lawfirm that survived the depression and it took these attorneys just 5 short years to run it into the ground. Embarrassing to say the least. The man that moved over to 1 WFC was hard working and brought much to the firm. They blame him for everything and when I say they I mean all of them drove him out. If he was still there and was treated like a human being this would not have happened. While he was out getting business these partners were playing solitaire on their computers and complained they wanted more money. Enough said. To the people that were let go look at it was a gift horse in disguise. This is no marriage made in heaven.

161 - "As far as people of color at Morgan, there are no associates of color and have never been." Just so totally untrue. Have/had a friend there who was an associate "of color".

161 - "As far as people of color at Morgan, there are no associates of color and have never been." Just so totally untrue. Have/had a friend there who was an associate "of color".

so, what's M&F doing with all their scientific advisors? are they taking any prosecution work to LLBL?

For those who think that outsourcing preparation and prosecution work is a foregone conclusion, you may find the following informative. Even Jack Abramoff's firm understands there are technology export laws to comply with. Imagine you're the head in-house IP attorney in a fortune 500 company and you have to explain to your boss why the feds have shut the company's export operations down because you tried to save $3,000 by sending a case to Prasad in Bihar.

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2005/November/Pages/Ethics_Corner3093.aspx

For those who think that outsourcing preparation and prosecution work is a foregone conclusion, you may find the following informative. Even Jack Abramoff's firm understands there are technology export laws to comply with. Imagine you're the head in-house IP attorney in a fortune 500 company and you have to explain to your boss why the feds have shut the company's export operations down because you tried to save $3,000 by sending a case to Prasad in Bihar.

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2005/November/Pages/Ethics_Corner3093.aspx

103 - What about Darby & Darby?

57 and 58, Pennie was sued by Pfizer for malpractice and lost but 58 I like how you expressed that fact

you should have bought a deli

you should have bought a deli

http://endofesq.com/?p=843

The whole thing is a real shame. It's sad to see people being put out of work without a life preserver. It's terrible to see such a long-lived firm dying so precipitously. Having worked there many years ago and having learned a lot there, even from many of the people being excoriated in these blogs, it would seem that the complete explanation is probably much more complex than any of us knows.

It's probably an appropriate time to remember remember George Finnegan, who would tell us to put clients first and that his responsibility was to ensure that their interests were paramount, even if it meant turning down additional work. It's all very sad.

M&F DID NOT dissolve due to the economy......but conveniently, they can now use that as an excuse for their poor partner-level management which dates back over 10 yrs ago.

And as far as a record year in 2007, that is a ratio, not an absolute. When you decrease your expenses by firing people and cutting salaries and being cheap (bleeding the place dry), naturally, your profit margin increases as long as you continue to bring in the same sad revenue as years past.

Those offer letters crack me up. Their cover will be blown soon enough and we'll see karma take its course. They broke the golden rule in business which is that human decency comes first......that is the recurring theme that lead to their demise. They repeatedly treated ppl like sh*t.

If you were let go, you may have a tough year ahead but as long as you don't compromise your ethics in business and your sense of human decency you come out ahead of these guys. Don't forget it.

Feiler, did you ever see "A Christmas Carol"? I think the "Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come" has a little message for you.

let's keep the hate coming, please. is there a possibility of suing to get full severance? Or all these people out of luck?

Does anyone know if "passion" was part of the takeover?

to 151, I did work there...all i am saying is what goes around comes around, and some people I worked with there are getting there's! god works in mysteriuos ways! have a nice life, it's much better after M&F!!! so time for you to shut your mouth and go fin a job!!!

#162 - Here it is 2009 and it is pretty pathetic that you proudly state that you knew of only ONE person of color at Morgan, however you fail to state whether that ONE token person of color was an African American. Apparently, Morgan and Locke Lord need more diversity. There are a lot of qualified African American attorneys. Why doesn't Locke Lord hire and retain any of them??????

People wake up! We now have an African American President of the United States of America, and you mean to tell me that Locke Lord cannot find qualified African American attorneys???? Gimme a break!

178: 162 here again. Let me rephrase what I wrote: I only know/knew one person at Morgan. He happened to be an associate who was "of color", i.e., he was (well, he still is) African-American.

I wasn't "proudly" stating that I knew of only one person of color there. I was stating a fact that contradicted whomever it was that said there were no associates of color there.

Let the blog die please....there is nothing left to say

To #180: Whatever the case, whether it is ONE or NONE (African Americans) at the firm . . . the bottom line is Morgan and Locke Lord deserve to go out of business, due to their discriminatory hiring practices!

181: If there is "nothing left to say," then shut up and move on!

Does income partner = associate or does it mean that the income partners salary is based on the amount of money they bring in? If it does than those income partners would be better off collecting unemployment, because none of them have a book business. "Passion" is still hanging no one has claimed as of today.

Thacher Proffitt website is down. Thacher partners who didn't make it to Sonnenschein are launching lawsuit against those who did make it to Sonnenschein. Paul Tvetenstrand and Robert E. McCarthy targeted in particular, Serves them right.

So anyone want to bet on how long it takes to file for bankruptcy and screw all the displaced workers out of their WARN money ? I give it a week. At least it's not as long as a shot as the Cardinals winning the SuperBowl

Who's passion?

Who's passion?

"Passion" is a really nice piece of art.

Isn't it "Passage"?

RIP

145 - Really? Straussman forced The One across the street to 1? Come on, really? Straussman is at best an OK lawyer and couldn't bench a coffee can. How did the good 'ole boys let that happen? (I have no info about what really happened so I can't refute your statement, it just makes all of this that much more pathetic)

The One. To call that guy an outdated feminine odor aid (that Wayda could (only) / should use for mouthwash) would be kind. He had associates doing mail room work. Yes, pulled in all the money, but wasted it too. "He brought much to the firm." Yeah, money and attitude, but I know, that's better than just attitude which is what that little mini Straussman has to offer. Blackburn thinks of himself as the Second Coming. It would all be so funny if it weren't so horrifying.

I wonder if 1 WFC really is The One (there's no doubt HE does) - and more generally if IP can possibly prop up any sinking ships.

No updates from first years? What experience could they have gotten in the preceding months of layoffs and worry and exodus? Clock that at -6 months I suppose. Did any get picked up or no????

192--yes, many 1st years were picked up too.

I also am glad I did not accept my offer there. I liked the people there, but something didn't seem right. Overall, good people and I wish them the best.

Overall question: Is it cheaper for a firm to fire a current first year, or to rescind current offers to incoming first years for '09?

192 You may be right about The One but those associates followed him there along with partners. It is a mini M&F over there. They were ridiculed for following him. Who is laughing now? Oh right the partners at M&F all the way to the bank on the back of everyone they shafted.

192 again...
I agree 195. Sad. But glad to hear that many first years landed. (I think most groups of summers were good groups - enthusiastic and normal relative to the general population of law students.) I can't imagine how the staff feel, can't even imagine.

Anyone look at the tenant list at all the WFC? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Financial_Center

I wouldn't want to be on that list - it's cursed. Couple that w/ the layoffs at CWT (I know, not IP related) and I wonder if IP will remain the Savior. Terrifies me to wonder, but I wonder anyway.

ANYONE who ever left M&F was ridiculed. Stockholm Syndrome. Picturing Straussman somehow leading that just, as someone above put it, makes my eyes bleed. I could picture him scratching out 33 on his high waisted black jeans and replacing it with 30, but little more. Bets for how many years before we see mini Strauss riding the subway w/ a flask muttering to himself and pointing out the manufacturer of the subway car?

Anyone who worked at M&F when the man at 1WFC was forced out knows that Straussman was a major influence along with the group that fled to Dickstein. Yes the man made mistakes, but he did bring in a large amount of money year in and year out. it took 114 years to build the firm and 18 months to destroy after he left. Jerry Lee, John Diaz, John Vassil, Tom Dowling, etc stomachs must be churning and the dead partners must turning over in the graves. A once proud firm died because they just could not get along.

Word is Straussman may be looking to exit the stage.

It's just a matter of time before we see some of the M&F lower partners and associates leave Locke Lord.

it is the entire class of partners who took over from the old guard (a.k.a. foley, dowling, richter et al) who are responsible for the demise of this firm: these new age geniuses include sweeney, gould, "the "One", to name a few. This new braintrust carefully navigated Morgan through the economic wave of the late 90's/mid 2000's into a sea of mediocrity. Wonder how sweeney will fare once locke finds out that his billing is sheer fiction- ever wonder how he manages 3000 hours? he has to cut his own time. the man bills in excess of 9 hours a day to 3 separate clients. 3*9 is 27. Ironic thing is the guy has an undergrad degree in Math.

Straussman???? oh please. Aside from being annoying and constantly nibbling at people's ankles, is harmless to the proportion of his irrelevance....did you ever notice him walking around the halls of the office? scurries along the wall perimeter ....not unlike his namesake.

What exactly do people think the are reasons The One left? Likely he wanted to merge (resulting in most losing their jobs) and/or fire most of the people. No better, no worse than what happened.

201, you hit the nail on the head. All this gnashing of teeth about "The One" is humorously pathetic. The One left because the partnership refused to approve his plan to fire all but 8 partners (out of 40) and a few associates and staff to "right size" for a merger with CWT. The One was angling for $3M+/year for himself by selling out nearly all of his colleagues and he thought he had enough power to actually pull it off. Sweeney held it together out of loyalty to the longtime staff. He managed to find a landing pad for most of them. If The One had had his way, most would have been out of a job 3 years ago. The One frankly didn't care about anyone but himself. Criticize Sweeney if you like, but he took it on the chin for the benefit of a lot of people.

202, Well I take back the no better no worse than what happened, what happened appears even better than I would have thought...Granted, some of what transpired could have been handled better, but it's not clear how anyone else could have actually done so. Unless one of us walked in Sweeney Gould and whomever else's shoes, then we should probably shut up. I am now.
-201

What? If CtheoneH had gotten a merger approved 3 years ago, it may have been considerably better than what happened to M&F recently. After all, a merger would have happened in a much better economy, and people would have found landing pads. This is the worst time possible to find other opportunities at all levels. Honestly, I think if the partners had managed to find a better business model for themselves or spent their time finding business, instead of spending all their time in-fighting and forming alliances, the firm could have fared better. Instead, group after group of partners left. And to be honest, to this day they continue to try and find ways to screw each other over from outside M&F. I suppose out of habit.
As for Sweeney "taking it on the chin" for the benefit of others, you are deluding yourself. The man is wealthy and will remain so. And you? He is the same person who lied to everyone about the finances of the firm and the future of the firm. He is no saint.
Like 175 says, keep the hate coming.

Sweeney taking it on the chin is laughable. During negotiations with LLB he was looking out for himself by interviewing on the outside. Af far as Gould is concerned he was on vacation last year more times then you can count. It is actually easier to tell you when he was in the office then out climbing mountains. While this was going on the remaining partners were doing the usual, nothing. The bottom line is that what they did is catastrophic to the many people they shafted. No severance and no COBRA. People can lose everything if anyone of them or someone in their family becomes sick. I wonder if Wayda took a shower for her first day at LLB?

As per the other post re: Locke Lord's website . . . not all of the first years went over. Of counsels landings were also mixed . . . I hope people have choices.

No COBRA is horrible. Although I would blame lawmakers and the US healthcare system for that, not people who tried to weather the economic storm and just couldn't pull it off.

Clients are fickle, and trying to drum up business is a lot harder than the scorned people here suggest. Can every staff person say they spent every minute for which they were paid dedicated to the clients and their work? Yeah right. But yes, some can, and then some. Bad things happen to good people.

So I'm not, NOT, saying everything was done right, I'm just saying. And three years ago everyone's thoughts were completely different from what they are now. Has anyone considered no merge took place b/c it was clear a lot of severance packages would have to be paid?

If everyone saw all of this evil in-fighting and the firm being run into the ground, why didn't they jump ship in the good economy? Because only in hindsight is everyone the crackerjack navigator w/ 20/20 vision.

Who drank the kool-aid? Not me. Oh I did? Well, then they made me.

Come on.

That said, a lot of bad just happened to a lot of good people. RIP. Thoughts are with you.

The former Thacher Proffitt partners who defected to Sonnenschein make me sick - Paul Tvetenstrand ran Thacher into the ground by focusing more energy on his bar in Chelsea Piers than on the Firm - and then Sonnenschein brought him on! WTF?!? And Robert McCarthy goes around acting like a holy roller while selling out some of his former partners and killing a venerable law firm just to pad his pockets with a few extra bucks. What a sad couple those two are.

are any of the remaining M&F staff and attorneys who moved to LLBL going to actually stick around, or is everyone planning on leaving asap?

I'm sure they will be leaving once they see LLBL's true colors!

Hey #205 did it ever occur to you that Sweeney and Gould and Marcus might have received offers from "the outside" with more$$$ but declined to save 70 M&F jobs?

Hey #205 did it ever occur to you that Sweeney and Gould and Marcus might have received offers from "the outside" with more$$$ but declined to save 70 M&F jobs?

210 they did but didn't like the deal. It had nothing to do with saving 70 M&F jobs.

Nothing makes a person more ignorant than a person with limited knowledge---who thinks he/she knows it all!

210 the previous blogger never mentioned Gould or Marcus just Sweeney. The idea that they stayed to save jobs is rediculous. They fired 70 people. Too bad the previous firm that was interested in M&F did not back out. I guess they smartened up. Gould and Sweeney told them they were their first choice in direct contrast to what Sweeny said in the LL&B announcement of the M&F partners joining their law firm.

Poster 210 is Gould! aaahahahahahahahahah

It's true, The One saw the writing on the wall and tried to save a merger 3 years ago. But clueless partners with no business sense got greedy and wanted to keep collecting a paycheck for sitting in the grill room drinking white wine at 3pm.

The proof here is in the size of each of their books. They ultimately dissolved for failure to develop enough business to continue.

The One, however, is thriving and growing his practice every day.

#215 should learn from # 213

217 has no sense of humor.

As for my "limited knowledge", I worked there for many years but had the sense to jump ship before the titanic hit the iceberg. I know all the dirt. So HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

-215

anyone know what it is like at 3wfc LLBL now? whats the word?

Second that, are there two mini M&Fs at the WFCs? (And is that another sign of the apocalypse... a mini M&F across from a mini M&F?)

But also: where did all the associates and of counsels/partners who didn't go to LLBL go?

MF website finally took down the attorney listings...but no goodbye or explanation . . . Really sad, like an unmarked tombstone.

I don't think anyone gave any credit to the person who had the cajones to forward those offer letters with all of their detailed dirty secrets. So, kudos to whomever it was. I do hope it was a disgruntled assistant, Kharma's a beech, ain't she?

If found out, the one with the "cajones" could be wearing stripes!

Why the finger pointing to an assistant who is a she? Did it very occur to anyone that it might have come from LL&B? Maybe not everyone was so on board with this debacle. 220 I agree with you that whoever sent out those offer letters should be given a medal. It stopped the partners from spewing their lies as they had been doing.

All this false praise for "The One" is laffable. His #1 client once said, after a first run rehersal of an upcoming oral argument, "OK Chris ....Now try it again, this time like a lawyer. " You know what ? I am not saying i could do the jobs these guys were supposed to do... but I dont pretend i can either. These guys should ALL be ashamed as they exploited alot of good people over the years. And if you didnt work there for 10+ years , then just keep quiet.

219 It is Gestapo over there

224 - what do you mean by that?

I wonder how many clients have stayed with MoFi.

The letters had to come from someone at LL&B. Who at M&F would have had *both* of them in hand?

Definitely had to be a disguntled LL&B partner who is making less than Sweeney and Gould. Little does LL&B realize that the end is near.