Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Dissolution, Paralegals, Partner Issues, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants, Staff Layoffs

Dewey & LeBoeuf: A Paralegal's Lament

If Dewey goes under, staffers will also lose their jobs. Here is one paralegal’s perspective on what’s going on at D&L….

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…. by underscoring the human toll that would be taken by a Dewey dissolution:

I know these facts do not necessarily make for sexy headlines but I do ask that you report on the following. While some laugh and play their lyre as the city of Rome burns, it will be well over one thousand staff members who will also be gainfully unemployed. Naturally, I bow down at the altar of the almighty lawyer but here is a short list of some others who will find themselves on the unemployment line: secretaries, paralegals, copy center, mail room, records department, maintenance, IT, cafeteria and catering, librarians etc. I hope the joviality was worth it as it will be needed when they are standing behind me on the breadline begging Please, sir, I want some more.

It’s important to remember just how many people will be affected if Dewey dissolves. At the same time, unemployment doesn’t strike me as a “lawyer versus staff” issue. As we all know from the Great Recession and lawyer layoffs, attorneys wind up in the breadline too.

I thank you for taking the time to read this (if you even do) as I could not sleep without having brought some humanity to the newsreel. If you would like to contact me I can be reached at my new location: 100 Park Bench, Hudson River, New York, New York 10069.

That coda struck me as a bit melodramatic. I asked this source if he had any information of a more factual nature to pass along. He responded:

Since the merger [between Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf Lamb in 2007], staff members only received one raise in 2010 and only after there was an uproar and complaints made to the EC. Management removed our bonus structure and asked that we avoid overtime since it added to their overhead.

In a meeting with [Steve] DiCarmine, staff members were told that clients do not pay the firm in a timely manner, therefore the vendors are not going to be paid in a timely manner. If any of the staff had issues with this business model, we should “get off the bus.” This is not the first time vendors have shut our services down. Partners had to be brought in to the mix many times to get bills paid.

As you may recall, last Friday we reported on unpaid bills resulting in Dewey lawyers and staff having difficulty accessing FedEx, car services, and records storage facilities.

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“This was management’s style,” concluded the Dewey paralegal. “It’s unfortunate that the rest of us are going to pay for what they have done.”

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Dewey & LeBoeuf

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