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Where’s LeBoeuf? An Update on Doings at Dewey

What's going down at Dewey? Some claim the firm is experiencing financial difficulties, and there have been some partner departures and reports of associate layoffs. But Dewey claims that it's really just business as usual over there. Let's tackle the question: Where's Le Boeuf?

By David Lat on February 27, 2012 2:12 pm

Here are some notable Dewey defections that have taken place in 2012 year to date:

This is a non-exhaustive list. If you know of other Dewey partner departures from calendar year 2012, feel free to notify us by email (subject line: “Dewey partner departure”), and we will update the list.

UPDATE (9 PM): J. Dormer Stephen, an M&A and private equity lawyer, and Andrew N. Davis, a real estate and environmental lawyer, left Dewey for Shipman & Goodwin in Hartford.

UPDATE (3/7/12): For continuing coverage of Dewey departures and other developments, click here and scroll through the collected posts.

In fairness to Dewey, last year the firm was a significant net gainer of lateral talent, as reported by the American Lawyer:

[In 2011, Dewey] went on a hiring spree, adding 33 partners, which was more than all but eight firms, while losing seven. Dewey brought in several high-profile partners from Howrey, including intellectual property litigator and former Howrey vice-chair Henry Bunsow and antitrust litigator Roxann Henry, as well as O’Melveny’s former M&A cochair, Ilan Nissan. Dewey chair Steven Davis says that the firm resisted making mass lateral hires for three years after it was created in October 2007 through the merger of Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, choosing to focus on integration first. “Now we’re moving into a new part of the cycle for the firm where we’re concentrating on building up key practice areas and offices and meeting strategic needs for our clients,” he says.

Dewey raided Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy for Michael Fitzgerald, Joy Gallup, and Taisa Markus, three partners with Latin America practices. Domestically, Dewey built up its energy practice, adding two Houston-based energy partners from Baker & McKenzie. “When we created the firm, we said that our fundamental strategy was to be in the category of elite global law firms,” Davis says. “We wanted to be the firm that targeted complicated and challenging work from great clients and was capable of working throughout the globe.” He says that close to 40 percent of his firm’s lawyers are outside the United States. Dewey has 17 offices abroad and hopes to get a license for a São Paulo office soon, Davis adds.

Of course, as noted in the Daily Journal piece, lateral hires can bring headaches as well as triumph. If they’re brought in with big guarantees and don’t generate as much business as expected, they can damage instead of enhance a firm’s bottom line.

On the other hand, some partner departures are welcomed, even encouraged. As discussed above, that was exactly what Dewey tried to do back in 2009, when it slashed the pay of almost 70 partners, about a fifth of the partnership.

Dewey slashing mid-tier partner salaries to pay guarantees to new stars [Daily Journal (sub. req.)]
DLA Piper Hires Insurance Attorney William Marcoux From Dewey & LeBoeuf [Bloomberg]
SNR Denton Snags Dewey & LeBoeuf Energy Pro [Law360 (sub. req.)]
Bingham Snags PE Expert From Dewey & LeBoeuf [Law360 (sub. req.)]
King & Spalding Hires Dewey Washington Partner for Tax Practice [BusinessWeek]
Clifford Chance Hires 2 Dewey & LeBoeuf Deal Makers [DealBook / New York Times via Morning Docket]
Hogan Lovells Adds Francis R. Monaco to Global Corporate Practice in New York [Hogan Lovells via Lawshucks]
Hogan Lovells Expands New York Finance Practice with Addition of Partners Peter Humphreys and Evan Koster [Citybizlist New York via Lawshucks]
CAREER TRACKER: Lawyers on the move – January 18, 2012 [Thomson Reuters News & Insight via Lawshucks]
This Time It’s Personal [American Lawyer]
Dewey & LeBoeuf Cuts Compensation of 66 Partners [American Lawyer]

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