JD Journal » office closures

9 Lawyers from Dissolving Tabbert Hahn Earnest & Weddle Join its Rival Firm

marvins — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:00:45 +0000

Tabbert Hahn Earnest & Weddle, a mid-sized law firm based in Indianapolis that has government, lobbying and pharmaceutical practices, is now slowly dissolving after more than 20 years of existence in the legal industry. The Indianapolis Business Journal revealed that the firm will close at the end of the year, though an actual date has not yet been finalized, so many of its lawyers and staffers are leaving to transfer to a much bigger firm in the city. There are five partners and four associates who are slated to join Bose McKinney & Evans in 2011. The lawyers who will jump to Bose are: named partners Gregory Hahn and Robert Weddle, partners Matthew W. Conner, Mary M. Ruth Feldhake, and Chad T. Walker. Meanwhile, the four associates are the following: David J. Duncan, Joel T. Nagle, Kevin M. Quinn and Elizabeth Schuerman.

Named partner Gregory Hahn expressed his excitement over the move. He described the firm’s decision as more of a business combination rather than a merger. “Overall as a law firm, we have a number of national and international clients and this just gives us a bigger platform to represent those interests. I’m very excited about this. They’re great lawyers and have a great reputation, and this combo will help everyone go to a bigger plateau.”

Bose spokesman Roger Harvey confirmed that nine attorneys would be joining their firm. He added that their firm circulated a company-wide e-mail informing the current staff and lawyers about the new hires and the latest changes in their company.

Weil Gotshal Shuts Austin Office

Erik Even — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:13:49 +0000

Weil Gotshal, which in May laid off 79 staff, is shuttering its Austin, Texas office on December 1st, 2009.

Partner Kevin Kudlac will be transferred to Houston. The office’s 16 associates and 11 staffers have been offered positions in the firm’s other offices. Those who turn down the relocation offer will get severance benefits.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. It is one of the largest and most highly regarded law firms in the world, with approximately 1,300 lawyers and gross annual revenue in excess of $1.7 billion.

Davis Polk to Shut Frankfurt Office

Erik Even — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:39:30 +0000

Davis Polk, home of stealth layoffs, will permanently close its office in Frankfurt, Germany in August.

The office’s long-time resident partner, Patrick Kenadjian, is retiring at the end of the year. His successor, Harald Halbhuber, has decided to leave the firm as well.

Much of the office’s work will be taken over by Davis Polk’s 31-lawyer London office.

Two associates and one counsel at the Frankfurt office have been offered other positions with the firm.

Davis Polk & Wardwell is an international law firm headquartered in New York. The firm employs more than 700 attorneys and is primarily known for its corporate, litigation and tax practices.

Kilpatrick Stockton Closes London Office

Erik Even — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:32:51 +0000

Atlanta’s Kilpatrick Stockton has closed its London office. The firm has not released numbers of persons affected.

The UK office had been shedding partners for years. Kilpatrick has several British law firms with which it is affiliated, and will work with these rather than maintaining it’s own UK footprint.

Kilpatrick Stockton employs more than 500 attorneys globally, in Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia; Charlotte, Raleigh and Winston-Salem, North Carolina; New York, New York; Washington, DC; Dubai, UAE; and Stockholm, Sweden.

Sonnenschein Shutters Charlotte Offiche

Erik Even — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:46:23 +0000

(The misspelling in the title is intentional — read it aloud.)

Partners at Chicago’s Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal voted today to shut the firm’s Charlotte, North Carolina office. The decision affects 11 lawyers and eight staff members.

Sonnenschein chair Elliott Portnoy cited “local marketplace realities, the declining demand for legal services in the Charlotte legal and financial markets, and the needs of our financial institution clients” for the decision.

Some lawyers will be offered the chance to relocate, while others will receive severance packages. The closure will take effect April 1st.

Sonnenschein opened its Charlotte office in April 2007 with three lateral partners from Kilpatrick Stockton; John “Jay” Suhr Jr., Jonathan Nugent and James Tucker. They were joined at the time by two counsel and 13 associates.

The firm has discussed relocation with the three partners; no decision has been made yet about their future at Sonnenschein.

Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP is an international law firm with 700 lawyers and other professionals in the United States and Europe. Founded in Chicago in 1906, it has 14 offices in the US and Europe.

Thring Townsend to Cut 20 Staff

Erik Even — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:47:58 +0000

Bath & Swindon, UK-based Thring Townsend Lee & Pembertons has begun a 30-day period of consultation with employees across its offices.

The firm plans to close branches in Cirencester and Marlborough, and move all staff from the two towns into its offices in Swindon.

Managing partner Thomas Sheppard said the cutbacks were the “only option” to protect the majority of its 380 staff.

Thring Townsend also has offices in Bristol and London.

The redundancies will be made across all levels of the business, which specializes in the private client, agriculture and commercial sectors.

Wyatt Tarrant Closing Branch Office

Erik Even — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:41:01 +0000

The Bowling Green, Kentucky branch of the Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs law firm will close next month.

The law office is scheduled to close March 27th, but if lawyers find alternative employment before that date, the office could close sooner, said managing partner Bill Hollander. The office employs about 10, including five lawyers.

Local clients can still be served by branches in Louisville and Nashville.

Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP is one of the largest law firms in the Southeastern United States. The firm has more than 200 attorneys in eight offices in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Colorado and Indiana.

Dewey & LeBoeuf Shutting San Francisco Office

Erik Even — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:44:24 +0000

New York’s Dewey & LeBoeuf is consolidating its Northern California offices, moving its San Francisco staff to its East Palo Alto location.

Dewey & LeBoeuf has decided to centralize its Bay Area presence by relocating the lawyers and staff in its San Francisco office to its Silicon Valley office. Combining two locations that are in relatively close geographic proximity will help the firm build critical mass in one central location in the Bay Area and gain greater access to growing business opportunities in Silicon Valley. All attorneys and staff members in San Francisco have been asked to relocate to Silicon Valley.

The San Francisco office will remain open for the foreseeable future to support clients and attorneys currently conducting business in San Francisco. Once the office move is completed, Dewey & LeBoeuf will continue providing service to clients in the San Francisco metropolitan area from the Silicon Valley office.

Dewey & LeBoeuf is a white shoe law firm formed in 2007 by the merger of Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. The firm has 24 offices in 14 countries.