In a 74-page civil suit filed in U.S. district court in Chicago, prosecutors accused Rogers and two companies with taking part in a scheme that generated more than $370 million in fictitious tax deductions. This allowed clients to offset unrelated income earned in the U.S., per the National Law Journal.

Currently, Rogers is a partner at his own Chicago firm, Rogers & Associates. Rogers joined Seyfarth as a nonequity partner in 2003 after his previous firm, the now defunct Altheimer & Gray, went bankrupt.

According to the NL, Rogers was an equity partner at Seyfarth from 2004 to 2008 until being forced to resign. At the time, Rogers told Seyfarth he was being investigated by the IRS and would stop promoting the Brazilian shelters to clients.

However, Rogers continued using the shelters. After Seyfarth discovered the deception, the firm forced him out, per the NLJ, citing from court records.

According to the suit, Rogers should have known his schemes were “abusive and illegal when he created them,” based on his education and experience.

• Morning Roundup
• Seyfarth Shaw Boosts Employment Practice on Both Coasts
• Seyfarth Shaw Bolsters Los Angeles Office
• Morning Roundup
• Seyfarth Shaw Offers Overview of California Employment Law

Seyfarth Shaw

Culver joins the firm’s international labor practice. She advises on a wide range of international employment matters in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North and South America and is also the co-chair of the International Law Committee of the American Bar Association.

“Marjorie is a leading international employment lawyer, and her approach and extensive experience in a wide range of international matters are an excellent fit with our international employment law practice,” said Darren G. Gardner, , Chair of Seyfarth Shaw’s international labor & employment law practice.

Seyfarth Shaw’s New York office opened in 1979 and is home to more than 100 attorneys.

Steinert was a partner in Seyfarth’s Los Angeles office from 2003-2007, but left to serve as vice president and senior employment counsel for Wachovia Corp. He then became senior counsel of Wells Fargo in 2009 when the banks merged.

“[Steinert’s] practice touches upon nearly every type of employment matter from wage and hour litigation to traditional labor law,” said Lisa J. Damon, chair of Seyfarth Shaw’s labor and employment department. “Eric is truly a jack of all trades and his experience adds tremendous value to our firm.”

Steinert’s practice is focused on representing clients in the financial services industry, and he has represented financial services companies extensively in FINRA arbitrations, wage and hour class actions and single-plaintiff employment litigation.

Seyfarth Shaw’s labor & employment department consists of nearly 350 employment attorneys nationally.

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• Sheppard Mullin Takes Seyfarth Shaw Trio
• Seyfarth Shaw Offers Overview of California Employment Law
• Seyfarth Shaw Adds Greg Yates as N.Y. Partner
• Seyfarth Shaw Adds Two Partners to Firm

In a press release announcing the move, Guy N. Halgren, chairman of Sheppard Mullin, said the firm has  “one of the biggest and best employment practices in California, and this group further strengthens the capabilities of one of our signature practice groups.”

Kaufman is a wage/hour specialist and has handled more than eighty class actions for a wide variety of industries, including banks and mortgage lenders, hospitals, large newspapers, information technology companies, restaurants, and other retailers. Kaufman also is experienced in litigating employment discrimination cases, including winning several jury trials. H

Gallion is a seasoned employment litigator and counselor. He has significant experience handling complex employment litigation, including California wage and hour class actions and nationwide discrimination class actions.

Fisch has extensive experience in all aspects of employment litigation, and has successfully defended management before federal and state courts and administrative agencies in defense of complaints for class action and single-plaintiff matters, involving wage-and-hour violations, wrongful termination, and discrimination.

Sheppard Mullin has 200 attorneys based in its Los Angeles offices and its Labor and Employment practice group includes 75 attorneys firmwide. Overall, Sheppard Mullin has 550 attorneys in 11 offices throughout the United States and Asia.

• Morning Roundup
• Seyfarth Shaw Boosts Employment Practice on Both Coasts
• Seyfarth Shaw Bolsters Los Angeles Office
• Leading Patent Litigator Joins Sheppard Mullin as Co-Chair of IP Practice Group
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Berman joins Seyfarth’s labor and employment department. His practice spans traditional labor and employment litigation, including a significant amount of complex, representative and class actions under both state and federal law. Berman has also represented employers in nearly all of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) regional offices in the Western United States, as well as before state and federal trial and appellate courts.

“Jeff is a tremendously accomplished and respected labor and employment attorney who is particularly adroit at handling complex matters on behalf of large medical institutions,” said Lisa J. Damon chair of Seyfarth Shaw’s Labor & Employment Department. “Both Jeff and Joan are tenacious advocates for their clients. They will fit right in with their labor and employment colleagues throughout the country.”

Seyfarth Shaw’s labor and employment practice has more than 350 employment attorneys at the firm’s ten U.S. offices.

• Seyfarth Shaw Boosts Employment Practice on Both Coasts
• Morning Roundup
• Sheppard Mullin Takes Seyfarth Shaw Trio
• Sidley Austin Adds Three Partners to L.A. Office
• Seyfarth Shaw Adds Greg Yates as N.Y. Partner

In this year’s edition, employment partner David Kadue outlines the Golden State’s workplace laws and regulations that make it one of “the most burdensome state’s” to do business.

“In countless areas – from qualifying for overtime pay to protecting employee vacation pay – California workers have protections that go beyond benchmarks established under federal law,” said Lisa J. Damon, chair of Seyfarth Shaw’s labor & employment Department. “California Peculiarities has earned its place as a trusted guide to help employers navigate the legal complexities of the state with the most employees in the nation.”

Added Kadue: “With its history of progressivism combined with activist judges and lawmakers looking to exceed federal standards, California has become by far the most burdensome state in which to operate a business under labor laws.”

In the report, Kadue notes the volume of workplace litigation has boomed since the passage of the California Labor Code Private Attorney General Act in 2004. It allows employees to “stand in the shoes of the California Labor Commissioner” and seek civil penalties for violations of the labor code up to $100 per pay period, per employee. The act also allows workers who bring actions against an employer to keep 25 percent of any penalties imposed.

Kadue notes the act has generated a wave of so-called “bounty hunter” or “sue your boss” lawsuits for failure to comply with often obscure provisions of the state’s labor code.

“Not surprisingly, it’s been an extremely lucrative litigation mill for the plaintiffs’ bar,” Kadue said.

The 2010 edition of California Peculiarities covers 21 chapters and is designed to provide insight on “every conceivable corner of workplace non-compliance.”

• Seyfarth Shaw Boosts Employment Practice on Both Coasts
• Seyfarth Shaw Adds Two Partners to Firm
• Justice Department Charges Former Seyfarth Shaw Tax Partner John Rogers in $370 Million Tax Scheme
• Seyfarth Shaw Bolsters Los Angeles Office
• Morning Roundup

Yates focuses his national practice in the areas of debt/creditor relations, including workouts, restructurings and bankruptcy. A particular area of focus is advising clients on creative solutions to distressed commercial real estate transactions, the firm said in a press release.

Seyfarth Shaw has over 750 attorneys with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Brussels, Belgium.

• Seyfarth Shaw Boosts Employment Practice on Both Coasts
• Seyfarth Shaw Bolsters Los Angeles Office
• Justice Department Charges Former Seyfarth Shaw Tax Partner John Rogers in $370 Million Tax Scheme
• Steptoe & Johnson Nabs SEC Associate Director
• Morning Roundup

Seyfarth Shaw’s labor and employment department has nearly 350 employment attorneys nationally. Sequeira will join other two other recent additions to the Washington D.C.-based department- former Assistant Secretary of Labor Victoria Lipnic and Alexander Passantino, the former acting administrator of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division.

“The addition of Leon builds on the tremendous talent we’ve brought to our L&E Department in Washington recently,” said Lisa Damon, chair of Seyfarth Shaw’s labor and employment department. “Their experience offers our clients invaluable insights into the enforcement of labor and employment laws, as well as the regulatory and legislative environment affecting employers.”

While with the Department of Labor, Sequeira advised the secretary on a wide range of policy issues affecting the American workforce and oversaw more than 80 regulations annually under development by the department’s agencies.

Seyfarth Shaw has over 750 attorneys located in ten offices throughout the United States and Belgium.

• Seyfarth Shaw Bolsters Los Angeles Office
• Seyfarth Shaw Adds Two Partners to Firm
• Morning Roundup
• Justice Department Charges Former Seyfarth Shaw Tax Partner John Rogers in $370 Million Tax Scheme
• Seyfarth Shaw Boosts Employment Practice on Both Coasts

Schwartz focuses on the areas of intellectual property litigation and counseling with a special emphasis on patent, trade secrets and trademark litigation, according to a press release. His most recent experience includes various forms of Markman hearings and intellectual preliminary matters.

Seyfarth Shaw has over 750 attorneys in ten offices throughout the United States and Belgium.

• Clark Hill Reels In Chicago IP Team
• Several Howrey Partners Moving on to Three More Firms
• Justice Department Charges Former Seyfarth Shaw Tax Partner John Rogers in $370 Million Tax Scheme
• Morning Roundup
• Seyfarth Shaw Boosts Employment Practice on Both Coasts

A leading full-service law firm in America, Seyfarth Shaw has announced it is expanding its business immigration practice.

The expansion comes from the addition of eight business immigration lawyers and nine additional team members, including para-professionals and staff, according to a firm press release.

The additions all come from Paparelli & Partners LLP, an immigration specialty law firm with offices in Southern California and New York. The firm has both national and international clients.

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• Miller Thomson Continues to Expand, Now Merges with Balfour Moss

The Am Law Daily is running out of leads for layoff stories, so we were relieved when we saw that Meredith Hobbs at the Fulton County Daily Report, an Am Law Daily sibling publication, got the managing partner of Seyfarth Shaw‘s Atlanta office to open up a bit about the recent layoffs there.

This statement from the partner, Paul Mattingly, especially caught our attention: “I’m not concerned about announcing layoffs publicly because these days they’re a fact of life.”

From the article:

Most firms still opt for “stealth” layoffs, preferring to cull lawyers and staff just a few at a time, in the hope that the cuts will escape the notice of the legal community — and, often, even people in their own firm.

They are loath to announce they are shedding associates and staff because business has slumped, fearing it will affect their ability to recruit and retain laterals…

Many firms also prefer to say cuts are performance-related because they worry about the stigma of admitting they don’t have enough work…

Seyfarth bucked the trend with last week’s e-mail memo explaining that it was laying off employees because of the economic downturn.

“Since layoffs have become so pervasive, clarifying that they were not for performance reasons, but because of market conditions, seemed like the fair thing to do,” said [Atlanta managing partner Paul] Mattingly.

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It’s been an interesting year for Seyfarth, currently ranked 65th on the AmLaw 100.

In July, the firm announced that it would push back the start date of its first year associate class.   Last month, the firm picked up a 14-attorney team (nine corporate and finance attorneys, four trusts and estates lawyers and one real estate attorney) from Thelen.  Now, layoffs.

Could the firm cap the year with a merger announcement?

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