Partners at the differently abled challenged Howrey law firm continue to leave the reservation in droves. Last night, Am Law Daily reported on the departure of antitrust litigatrix Roxann Henry. She’s joining Dewey & LeBoeuf, which has picked up a number of Howrey refugees (including Henry Bunsow, former vice-chairman of the firm).
What’s next for Howrey? According to Legal Week, the remaining partners plan to vote next week on whether to wind down the firm. (For a discussion of possible Howrey endgames, see Am Law Daily, which interviewed partnership law expert Robert Hillman, a professor at UC Davis.)
After the dissolution vote, Howrey can focus on talking to Winston & Strawn about which associates and staff Winston might want (as well as other assets, like the Howrey name). As previously discussed, a few weeks ago Winston made offers to about 75 percent of Howrey’s partners. It looks like about 35 percent of Howrey’s remaining partners have agreed to join Winston, and Legal Week reports that confirmation letters went out to them last weekend.
Pursuing The Pro Bono Story: A Conversation With Alicia Aiken
This Pro Bono Week, get inspired to give back with PLI’s Pursuing Justice: The Pro Bono Files, a one-of-a-kind podcast hosted by Alicia Aiken.
In our last post, we opened up a Howrey haiku contest. Let’s look at the winners….
Our contest was inspired by a poem that Howrey CEO Robert Ruyak shared with Howrey summer associates — i.e., participants in the famous Howrey Bootcamp — in the early 2000s. We asked commenters to come up with haikus summarizing Howrey’s plight (ideally addressed to Howrey summer program offerees, informing them of the program’s cancellation).
We ranked the entries by “likes” on Disqus. The third place haiku, by frequent commenter Bonobo Bro, was actually my personal favorite:
How Filevine Helps In-House Legal Teams Manage Every Matter With Confidence
AI powers tools for data intake, document management, and drafting contracts.
Your bootcamp this summer
Will be at Parris Island, SC
Thank you for serving
In second place, an entry from an even more frequent commenter, “Guest”:
Robert Ruyak writes
poetry instead of a
business plan.
And the winner, by “Brosef Stalin”:
Your BigLaw dream – dust
Your debt – crushing
Get my coffee – paralegal
That’s dark, depressing stuff. But at the risk of sounding Pollyanish and clichéd, we remind you that every end marks a new beginning.
Good luck to everyone who has been affected by the current turmoil enveloping Howrey. If you do end up experiencing employment dislocation, at least you’re entering the job market in an apparently recovering economy. So hang in there — everything should be okay in the end.
Howrey Departures Continue As Dewey Takes On D.C.-Based Antitrust Litigator [Am Law Daily]
An Expert in Law Firm Breakups Looks At Possible Howrey Scenarios [Am Law Daily]
Howrey partnership set for vote next week on wind-down [Legal Week via ABA Journal]
Who Will Milk Fees from Howrey’s Mammoth Antitrust Case? [Am Law Daily]
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Howrey