Biglaw, Lateral Moves, Musical Chairs, Partner Issues

Musical Chairs: O'Melveny Litigation Rainmaker Moving to Skadden

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Back in March, we reported that Skadden D.C. lost important members of its litigation team when Andrew Sandler and Benjamin Klubes left to start their own firm. Have those losses been replaced? Sources report Skadden is in the process of poaching a big name from O’Melveny & Myers. Apparently, John Beisner is leaving OMM for Skadden, and he’s taking Jessica Miller and Steve Harburg with him.

Beisner is based out of Washington, D.C. and is the chair of O’Melveny’s firmwide Class Actions, Mass Torts, and Aggregated Litigation Practice. A source says this about Mr. Beisner’s importance to O’Melveny:

Beisner’s cases are an unbelievable percentage of the entire litigation portfolio – this has been a huge fear now realized among associates/counsel.

After the jump, O’Melveny responds.

Firm spokespeople at O’Melveny & Myers were not in a position to confirm or deny the report. But the firm did offer Above the Law this statement:

O’Melveny has a thriving class actions litigation practice with numerous institutional clients that have close ties to O’Melveny and its many nationally recognized class actions practitioners.

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Skadden spokespeople declined to respond to our requests for comment.

But, if true, the new hires seems like an excellent way to fill the hole left by Sandler and Klubes in the D.C. office. At O’Melveny this could be an excellent opportunity for someone to step up and bring in clients during the downturn. Or perhaps the firm will just poach somebody else. It’s not like the music has stopped.

We’ll keep you posted if this move becomes official.

UPDATE: Yes, John Beisner is now at Skadden, along with Stephen Harburg and Jessica Miller.

Earlier: Musical Chairs: Skadden Partners Jumping Ship

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