What Does The Mass Exodus Of Partners At This Biglaw Firm Mean?

The numbers are startling.

Something is going on at Sedgwick. The Biglaw firm has lost about a fifth of its partners in 2017. Before we get to the speculation part of the this post, let review exactly what’s been going on. Hold onto your hat — there’s a lot to get through.

In the words of Dragnet here are the facts, nothing but the facts:

  • January: In the New Jersey office of Sedgwick, 6 partners and 12 associates (one joined later in the year), including former firm Chair Michael Tanenbaum, left to form litigation boutique Tanenbaum Keale LLP.
  • January: In the Dallas office, 9 partners and 14 associates left for Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.
  • January to June: The San Francisco office lost three partners, each for separate firms.
  • April: The Los Angeles office lost two insurance partners to Cozen O’Connor.
  • June: Richard E. Wallace Jr., the former managing partner of the D.C. office, and Peter C. Condron left for Crowell & Moring LLP.
  • June: In the Los Angeles office, two partners and two associates in the product liabilities group left for Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC.
  • August: 4 partners and 8 associates left the New York and Miami offices for Robinson & Cole.
  • September: Partner Traci Ribeiro left the firm after settling a gender discrimination case, joining Foran Glennon Palandech Ponzi & Rudloff.
  • September: The New York office lost three partners, including office head John Blancett, to U.K. firm Kennedys.
  • October: Chicago office managing partner Eric Scheiner, along with two other partners, left for Kennedys.

Also this year: the D.C. and Austin offices closed (in 2016 the Fort Lauderdale office shut its doors, merging with Sedgwick’s Miami office).

Besides the sheer number of departures, another noteworthy takeaway is how many current and former members of the firm’s leadership are taking their ball and leaving. It’s startling.

Sedgwick can spin all of these departures any way they want (“We are actively pursuing a number of parallel strategies, all of which are geared toward strengthening and solidifying our brand, while managing the shifting landscape of the legal marketplace. We continue to focus our efforts on serving our clients at the highest level”) but… something is going on there. Now the real question is: what could it be?

Given the merger mania sweeping through Biglaw, that is definitely an option. Industry experts say though the parties aren’t always able to discuss the early stages of merger talks, keeping an eye out for departing partners is an indicator that big moves could be on the way:

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Given that firms work so hard to keep early-stage talks quiet, [Janet Stanton of Adam Smith, Esq.] noted that partner defections can be one predictor of ongoing or imminent merger talks.
“That is a really obvious thing to look at, because the people who are left behind are less and less mobile,” said Stanton.

If a merger is on the horizon for Sedgwick, then mazel tov. But… there are other less positive options. Before Dewey & LeBoeuf imploded, well, a lot of partners left the firm first. Ditto with Kenyon & Kenyon. So, yeah. We don’t know what’s really going on but we’d love to find out.

So do know know anything about the exodus of lawyers from Sedgwick? Feel free to sound off by email, by text message (646-820-8477), or by tweet (@ATLblog). A fun or insightful response — we’ll keep you anonymous — could find its way into an update to this story.


headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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