It’s time to announce the winner of April’s Lawyer of the Month competition. While there were many worthy candidates presented for your consideration, only one of them is the subject of a possible criminal probe. Only one of them is the subject of an annotated work of art. Only one of them has been accused of leading a storied Biglaw firm down a path of devastation, destruction, and seemingly inevitable dissolution.
That said, let’s take a look at April’s Lawyer of the Month — the man, the myth, the legend — Steven Davis, former chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf….
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Here’s a quick timeline of the scandalous events that Davis has been involved in over the past few of months:
- At the beginning of March, Davis announced that D&L would cut 5-6% of firm personnel.
- Later in the month, Davis announced that bonuses would be late.
- At the end of March, Davis took a “demotion,” and the firm instituted a five-person chairman’s office.
- In late April, news broke of a possible criminal probe into Davis’s involvement with Dewey’s downfall.
- At about the same time, Davis was removed from all firm leadership positions.
A commenter on the Lawyer of the Month post announcing Davis’s candidacy noted: “Considering that Steve DiCarmine and Steve Davis were joined at the… errr …hip, they should be nominated together.” And perhaps they should have been. After all, in the opinion of one source, the pair “ran the firm through intimidation, fear, and paying off people.” And it was with that same iron fist that the Steves ran the firm into the ground.
Critics allege that it was Davis’s poor management decisions that drove D&L to the fast track down the drain, and even though that may be the case, he still has people in his corner defending him. Those possible criminal charges? “Absurd.” It just goes to show that no matter the kind of deep dew-dew that you’ve gotten yourself into, some people will still have your back.
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When LeBoeuf is officially cooked, which may be any day now, Davis may have trouble finding a job. Keep your head up and your options open, Steve: you can always write a Biglaw partner column for Above the Law!
Earlier: Lawyer of the Month: April Reader Poll
Prior ATL coverage of Steven Davis