Question What's "Dewey & LeBoeuf"? Answer A very big, very venerable, global New York City law firm whose possible death throes have been in the legal news for months. Now, daily reports on its struggles are hitting the mainstream media.
Question "Dewey" as in "Dewey beats Truman"? Answer Yes.
Question What's happening? Answer The technical term for the exodus of partners leaving Dewey in the last several months is "in droves." Dewey has retained bankruptcy counsel and has cancelled its incoming class of summer associates.
Question So what? Answer If a firm of such prestigious heritage and solid reputation and size bites the dust, lawyers everywhere need to be paying attention and asking questions such as: What was Dewey's business model, and does it look anything like mine? What were the firm's operating assumptions about growth, equity, and the future of the practice of law, and are mine the same? Is this just a case of bad management or is Dewey a very big canary in the legal industry mineshaft? Here are some current analyses and hypotheses:
- "Dishing the Debt" The Lawyer.
- "Partner Exodus May Upend Dewey’s Loans" and "With a Merger Unlikely, Dewey's Options Shrink" New York Times
- "Dewey & LeBoeuf Near Collapse—Are Other White Shoe Law Firms In Peril?" Daily Beast
Photo: Thomas Dewey
