Now that Dewey & LeBoeuf has shut its doors and filed for bankruptcy protection, it’s time for the post-mortems. A law professor and three practitioners offer differing perspectives on why the firm failed. Lance Cole of Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law says New Yorks LLP law may have made it too easy for partners to jump ship. James Denlea of Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz, says that the rule prohibiting nonlawyer investment in law firms is to blame. And Michael Moradzadeh and Yaacov Silberman of Rimon say the culprit is Big Law’s outmoded compensation system.
New York’s LLP law may have played a role
It possibly made it too easy for partners to jump ship; had it been harder, the mass exodus might have been avoided.
