Dewey files for Chapter 11 in record law firm collapse

Isn’t Chapter 7 for liquidation?

Probably a chapter 11 for organization which will then be converted to a chapter 7 for liquidation.

Where’s the boeuf?

Dewey, Cheatem, & Howe

“Dewey said that the 401(k) plans and qualified pension plans of its current and former employees and partners are held in trust and cannot be accessed by the firm’s creditors.”

I doubt that… Wonder how “good” the creditors lawyers are.

Are we supposed to be upset about a bunch of lawyers going out of business. That sounds like a good thing to me. Get rid of all the lawyers and simplify the laws so lawyers aren’t needed.

lawyers disgust me…

Most lawyers are decent, hard-working people just like you or I. They get a bad rap because of the irresponsible actions of a small but loud minority of others. And this isn’t just “a bunch of lawyers going out of business”… the fallout from this will reverberate far and wide through the economy.

I’m all broken up over this!

it looks like america is heading for a double dip recession. you just cant spend like a drunken sailor and not expect this to happen.

I love it when lawyers are forced to hire lawyers.

“But the firm was eventually undone by a combination of the economic downturn, excessive compensation and governance problems, according to former partners and others in the industry. In particular, Dewey’s management promised millions in packages to about 100 partners, according to the court filing, leaving it strapped for cash when revenues fell during the recession.”
These goddam lawyers’ unions are destroying the country!

Apparently, their “donations” to the Obama campaign were not generous enough.

Hmm, 300 partners on the bottom of the ocean?

Well, like the old story about what you call a busload of lawyers going over a cliff, it’s a good start.

I understand Starbucks is looking for a few good barristers. Um, barristas?

What’s the difference.

Well, like the old story about what you call a busload of lawyers going over a cliff, it’s a good start.

I understand Starbucks is looking for a few good barristers. Um, barristas?

What’s the difference.

@Lunchbox: yeah, I hear you. That 99% of bad apples sure do give the 1% a bad name.

Nice to see some bottom feeders suffer for a change.

Good. This country has more lawyers per capita than any other country on earth. Time to cull the herd. In Detroit we have a family of ambulance chasers that makes so much money that they can sponsor the Tigers and Red Wings games on TV. It’s time colleges started producing fewer lawyers and more engineers and scientists.

Don’t worry, Warren Buffett will take control of the firm–pennies on the dollar.

wow. never thought about a law firm going down, but now that it’s happening, shouldn’t we celebrate? imagine, lawyers having to go out with the rest of us and actually repair a car, mop a hospital floor, milk a cow. lol…if we can get RPaul into the White House, he plans to eliminate 40,000 “laws” and eliminate a few redundant agencies… who said this recession was all bad?

I wonder what really happened here. The President said the economy is rebounding and we are out of the recession.

The partners of Dewey and LeBoeuf should have read my book Demons of Democracy before joining this firm. Many more firms will succumb to the reality unfurling around them. The high end law may be on his/her way out. Mark Davis MD author of the controversial book Demons of Democracy

The partners of Dewey and LeBoeuf should have read my book Demons of Democracy before joining this firm. Many more firms will succumb to the reality unfurling around them. The high end law may be on his/her way out. Mark Davis MD author of the controversial book Demons of Democracy

This is, as they say, A GOOD START!

It’s a good start!

It’s a good start!

Isn’t this, as they say, A GOOD START!

Isn’t this, as they say, A GOOD START!

Somehow I find little sympathy for them. I feel bad for the staff that will be out of a job but I have no sympathy for the lawyers at all. Karma is truly a female dog.

This must be the first ‘good’ news regarding the US economic woes in a while. Pardon me if I don’t feel bad about a bunch of lawyers losing their jobs.

the more “law” firms that collapse, the better for this country of victims

Poor lawyers!
They should have charged 80% instead of their usual 60% fee.
People just don’t understand where we’d be if it weren’t for lawyers.

The firm was much more successful under their old name – Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe.

That is worse than the law firm Dewey, Cheatham and Howe!

@Lunchbox. Why will this reverberate throughout the economy? Why will one law firm with an out-of-whack cost structure be felt far and wide?

Biz. has to make a profit to even need a Law firm. This should serve as a wake up call to all of you lawyers that dumped money on the Democrats. It rolls downhill if you know what I mean. You can’t get anything from a biz. if they don’t have anything.

Everybody hates lawyers, uh…until they need one :)

Everybody hates lawyers, UH…untilthey need one. :)

You can give me an hour alone in a bank
Pay all my tickets, wipe the slate blank
You could buy me a car, fill up the tank
Tell me a BOAT FULL OF LAWYERS JUST SANK…

~Robert Cray

One lousy loser law firm down, thousands to go. Total bankruptcy of every law firm in the United States would raise the quality of life in America 1000%.

Mark this as a lesson for all of you who agree to a certain amout of compensation with a partner or hired worker. If you LIE or make excuses about it you WILL go down. It is just a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’.

All those poor, poor lawyers, oh no!!!

So whaddaya call a ship with 600 Lawyers on it which sinks to the bottom of the sea killing all aboard?

A Start

BankruptcyMisconduct has lots of dirt on these guys. They’ve been predicting the firm’s collapse since about the beginning of the year with a heavy slant on the criminal issues.

Good riddance! If it weren’t for lawyers, we wouldn’t need them.

Lawyers getting lawyers to litigate for them….hahahahahahaha

Love these people squawking “I’m glad these lawyers lost their jobs.” Please let us know what jobs you have so we can start hoping you lose your jobs.

So why don’t the partners just hire themselves to represent them? Problem solved.

Lawyers have destroyed this country.

They have designated themselves a new class of citizen and laws are written for them now.

We have a country of lawyers not laws.

Some simple rules would fix this.

1.No more attorney advertising permitted. It used to be that way and is around the world.
2.EVERY case in court must result in the loser paying ALL attorney fees. That way only cases with merit are brought. Just like the rest of the world.
3.Any person lying in court, even a little white lie, must be penalized without exception. Today lying is expected in court and is rarely punished. Widespread lying causes millions of extra legal hours to be billed.
4.The american bar association is a trade association just like any other trade association and it’s members are expected to support one another commercially. NO JUDGE should ever be or expect to become a member of the same trade association that attorneys which argue before him are members of. This is a conflict of interest. Judges let lawyers argue and bill ad infinitum just to support business comrades.

Stop special treatment for lawyers.

One law firm down, millions of others to go.

One would think that Leboeuf would have learned after Dewey’s old firm Dewey, Cheatem and Howe went under.

Now I don’t want to take a cheap shot but for all of us who have had fraudulent bills from lawyers that are so loaded with false charges they are almost laughable, we do feel that yes, perhaps this is a good first step.

Oh no! A bunch of greedy lawyers pay themselves too much and run out of money. I think I feel a tear coming on… tear of joy maybe. A bunch of lawyers out of work could actually signal the start of an economic recovery! Who knows, if this trend continues businesses might actually be able to operate here again without these legal pirates looting their cash flow.

Wow! Lawyers abandoning a sinking ship. I’m totally shocked.

Now if we could get this to spread, we might pry the bony fingers of the legal profession off the next of productive society.

how does a law firm lose money?

Wow how far the mighty have fallen. Dewey Ballentine, was Gov. Tom Deweys’ old law firm. A sad ending for a great man’s legacy.

Lawyers, huh? Maybe they can sue someone.

Lawyers screwing lawyers…gotta love it.

98 percent of lawyers give the other 2 percent a bad name.

Who am I supposed to feel sorry for? Personally I feel liberated. If they donated enough the can find jobs in the government.

1,450 overpaid pompous attorneys file bankruptcy! Please give me a tissue. The only thing more fun will be watching former partners suing the pants off of each other. I’m sure most voted for Obama, so it serves them right.

Probably a bunch of elitist Democrats unable to live in realville.

Wait! I thought only college dropouts and high school graduates were failures in life….. “Remember, you have to go to college or your will not amount to anything”. They just amounted to nothing.

I always wondered where law firms got their gazillions. Now I know…they never had it to begin with.

Twas a time in many states when lawyers could not be elected to the legislature because they had already sworn allegience to “the court”, thus having a conflict between legislative and judicial branches. That should be reinstated in every state and the U.S. Congress.

When this firm contacted other firms about a possible merger, were they billed 2 tenths of an hour @ $600 per hour for leaving a voice mail?

My greatest fear is that these unemployed lawyers will suddenly decide politics is their future career path. I never understood how any thinking individual could elect a lawyer as a politician in the first place.

Hey Dewey and Leboeuf, look over your shoulder and see the ghosts of Finley Kumble stalking you out the BK door. That was the first of the famous big 4 to go, back in 1987. I know, my wife Lynn Redgrave was one of their victims, and sued them for malpractice along with hundreds of others. They took the easy way out, getting the judge to cancel most all of the lawsuits. Google it and be enlightened.

I practiced law for nearly 30 years, in big firms and small. My observation is that many firms are governed by lawyers who primarily advise businesses, as opposed to other areas of practice. Many times these lawyers fool themselves into thinking that they are business people, too. The collapse of these two firms reportedly stemmed from unrealistic compensation programs. No surprise.

When big time lawyers are going bankrupt you know the economy stinks.

No sympathies.

Dewey, Fleecem, and Howe

GREEDY LAWYERS SUING EVEN GREEDIER LAWYERS, Just breaks your heart! NOT! LOL!

GREEDY LAWYERS SUING EVEN GREEDIER LAWYERS, Just breaks your heart! NOT
LOL!

GREEDY LAWYERS SUING EVEN GREEDIER LAWYERS, Just breaks your heart! NOT
LOL!

GREEDY LAWYERS SUING EVEN GREEDIER LAWYERS, Just breaks your heart! NOT
LOL!

GREEDY LAWYERS SUING EVEN GREEDIER LAWYERS, Just breaks your heart! NOT
LOL!

Considering how tight the legal profession is with the Dems, the President and congress….how much money they contribute to their campaigns, can a bailout be far behind? Too bad for the staffs at these firms… partners make millions and staff can be fired at the drop of a hat for no reason. Yet, you never hear OWS complain about them, and you certainly never hear The Dems urge them to unionize THEIR staffs. Funny, isn’t it? NOT!

Oh my – the sound of poetic justice – that happens so very rarely anymore. This is funny though…

*The firm’s collapse is expected to be the subject of years of court proceedings, and a number of former partners have already retained lawyers to represent them.*

MOST other companies would look to cutting expenses dramatically – but what does a law firm do? Rack up more court fees. Smart.

Whooooo Hoooooo!!!!

Too bad all the lawyers who worked for the firm weren’t forced to stop being lawyers as well. Only in utopia do lawyers not exist.

Sometimes you have to appreciate the small victories in life. Now if all the other laws firms could just follow suit.

This is terrible lawyers should never have to do this for help contact me at: Dewey, Wi, Cheathem, and Howe.
First we will sue the creditors for forcing us to buy their stupid products and going into debt, then those idiot clients whose cases we lost.

Lawyers suing lawyers. What could be better?

Hal, Chapter 7 is personal while Chapter 11 is business. 11 allows the business to continue to attempt to remain while reducing the overhead and size or it can do what this firm is doing, winding everything down and closing shop.

Gee, I guess Crime doesn’t Pay.

What chapter of the code a case is filed under is not dependent on whether the debtor is an individual or a business entity. Chapter 7 is a liquidation that is essentially supervised by a trustee; it can be for both individuals and business entities. Chapter 11 is generally referred to as reorganization, however liquidating plans may be implemented; it is also available to both business entities and individuals.

An offshoot of the classic Dewey, Cheatum & Howe…

Don’t worry, there are a million other ambulance chasers to continue to sue every business firm or citizen in the country. Doesn’t take any brains, just a small filing fee and a jury to be led around by their nose. Kiss it all goodby. Anybody to stupid to become a business owner or doctor gets sucked up by the large law firms and just starts the lawsuits, sooner or later something will stick. Goodby don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way to the next pack of lowlifes.

And this surprises whom exactly?

“Lavish pension packages”…created by the legacy partners of a law firm that negotiated “Lavish pension packages” for various unions and soon to be debt laden companies.

Rule #1. Attorney’s are not financial geniuses.

Rule #2. As a human shark…never anticipate being fed in your old age… by younger sharks.

Rule#3. See #1 & 2.

“Excessive compensation” – guess greed isn’t good after all, unless you’re a one percenter who is grabbing the cash and running, leaving employees with pennies on their pension dollars.

Why can’t these bloated salary lawyers just cut their pay and pensions in half like they’re demanding firemen and police union employees to do? Good for the goose…