THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF LEGAL JOBS ON EARTH
LawCrossing Legal Daily News Feature
Dewey Issues Conditional Advance Notice Under WARN Act to US Employees With only a two-week extension of its $75 million direct loan from a bank syndicate, law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf is destined to close. Considering the developments this year as well as those within the last couple of weeks anything else short of a miracle cannot save the firm from bankruptcy. However, even the last days of Dewey keeps proving how blunt the management is in actuality. With only about 14 days in hand, the management has suddenly woken up and sent a mail to its U.S. employees warning of mass layoffs and mentioning that the letter is to be considered as a conditional notice under the WARN Act.
05/05/12
also hired a big criminal defence lawyer, Edward Little, though no allegations of wrongdoing have yet been
Still failing to confirm closure, Dewey management
brought against him.
told its employees on Friday, “Although we continue to pursue various avenues, it is possible that adverse
The situation is still curious, since under the WARN Act
developments could ultimately result in the closure of
the firm needs to provide at least 60-days notice and in
the firm, which would result in the termination of your
New York the WARN Act requires 90 days notice before
employment.”
terminating employment. While the bank syndicate is heard to have provided only a two-week extension
The Dewey management mentioned in the notice,
to the loan, it is difficult to see how the firm can run
“Accordingly, in order to give you as much advance
another 90 days from final notices of termination
notice as possible, and to comply with any legal
required under WARN Act requirements.
obligations that we may have, this letter will serve as conditional advance notice under the Federal Worker
At least 120 of 300 partners have already left. The
Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act.”
former chair of Dewey, Morton Pierce has already left. The firm has a $75 million direct debt to banks and
Industry sources say that both Steves have now
more than $125 million debt to investors. The overseas
been compromised only after they have torn the firm
offices of Dewey including those in Britain, Germany,
to shreds. Steve Davis was relieved from all of his
Kazkhstan, UAE and Russia are already in shambles
responsibilities earlier this month, and Steve DiCarmine
with key partners leaving to join other law firms.
has been dismissed within last week. DiCarmine has
PAGE
www.lawcrossing.com