Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALMDuane Morris Scoops Up 4 Partners From LeClairRyan
The group includes five lawyers spread between New York, Newark and Boston.
June 17, 2019 at 02:53 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
Five LeClairRyan lawyers have left the firm to join Duane Morris, extending a string of departures from the firm.
The group includes Boston-based partners Charles Ognibene and Michael Grant, partner Robert Brener in Newark and partner William Dubon in New York.
Philadelphia-based Duane Morris announced the moves Monday.
While at LeClairRyan, Ognibene led the firm's business law department for nearly two years, and he has experience in domestic and cross-border financing as well as the auto-finance industry. Grant's practice has focused on consumer finance and banking litigation. Bryner is a litigator with experience representing financial institutions and other companies in corporate and labor disputes. Dubon has a background in commercial banking and is also focused on the auto-finance industry.
“As our firm continues to grow across practices, adding this group will be a tremendous asset to our corporate clients,” Duane Morris CEO and chairman Matthew Taylor said in a statement. “Charlie and his team have extensive experience working together on complex legal matters, which will mesh nicely with the firm's deeply collaborative culture. This team's focus has been in the automotive finance industry, which melds well with industries in which we have real depth.”
Additionally, Michael Garcia, also formerly of LeClairRyan, will join Duane Morris as a trial associate in the firm's Boston office. He too has experience with the auto-finance industry and focuses on commercial litigation.
“We are excited to welcome these talented attorneys to Duane Morris,” Boston office managing partner Michael Gottfried said in a statement. “They are highly skilled lawyers who bring a diverse background and service-first approach to counseling clients on their most complex matters.”
The moves are only the latest in a string of departures from LeClairRyan, which was ranked at 179 on the 2019 Am Law 200. The firm's equity partnership contracted by more than a quarter in 2018, down to 90 partners from 124 the prior year.
However, the firm also added a new office in Dallas in May of this year, joining Houston and becoming the firm's second Texas-based office. LeClairRyan was founded two decades ago in Richmond, Virginia; its largest offices are currently in Richmond and Alexandria, Virginia.
The firm's revenue and head count peaked in 2015, when it grossed $163 million and employed 353 attorneys, according to ALM data. By last year revenue had fallen to $122.5 million, and head count stood at 273 lawyers.
Representatives from LeClairRyan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In June 2018, the firm partnered with alternative legal services provider UnitedLex in an effort to reshape itself and concentrate efforts on key practice areas. The partnership also recently adopted a new leadership structure, and Elizabeth Acee was announced the new president of the firm earlier this year.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Why Is It Becoming More Difficult for Businesses to Mandate Arbitration of Employment Disputes?
6 minute read
European, US Litigation Funding Experts Look for Commonalities at NYU Event
Trending Stories
- 1Gibson Dunn Sued By Crypto Client After Lateral Hire Causes Conflict of Interest
- 2Trump's Solicitor General Expected to 'Flip' Prelogar's Positions at Supreme Court
- 3Pharmacy Lawyers See Promise in NY Regulator's Curbs on PBM Industry
- 4Outgoing USPTO Director Kathi Vidal: ‘We All Want the Country to Be in a Better Place’
- 5Supreme Court Will Review Constitutionality Of FCC's Universal Service Fund
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
