Greenberg Traurig LLP said it has
held preliminary discussions regarding lawyers at Dewey &
LeBoeuf LLP, the New York law firm said to be considering
options including a pre-packaged bankruptcy filing.
“We have had preliminary discussions relating to lawyers
at Dewey LeBoeuf but we have made no commitments, have not
reached agreements and have had no involvement in the firm’s
financial situation or relationships,” Jill Perry, a Greenberg
Traurig spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Greenberg Traurig has grown into a firm with more than
1,700 lawyers and 29 U.S. locations without having done a
merger, Perry said in the statement. The New York-based firm
regularly considers “quality opportunities” and had
discussions “in that spirit,” according to the statement.
More than 60 partners have left Dewey during what the firm
has called a restructuring process. The largest exiting
contingent was a group of 12 insurance and regulatory lawyers
who went to Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP last month.
A team led by Dewey partners Martin Bienenstock and Bruce Bennett is considering a so-called pre-packaged bankruptcy plan,
a person familiar with the matter said. Such a plan, which would
be approved by creditors before it was filed, could lead to a
merger with another U.S. firm, said the person who asked not to
be identified because he isn’t authorized to discuss the plans
publicly. The team is also examining what would happen if the
firm shuts down, the person said.
‘Various Paths’
“We are considering various paths, including continuing to
operate as an independent global law firm and a strategic
combination with another leading law firm, the latter of which
could take many forms,” Angelo Kakolyris, a spokesman for
Dewey, said yesterday in a statement. “Nothing, however, at
this point, is definitive.”
Kakolyris didn’t immediately return calls after regular
business hours yesterday seeking comment on talks with Greenberg
Traurig, which were reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.
Dewey ranks third among legal advisers to investment banks
advising companies on mergers this year, based on the announced
dollar value of deals, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Bienenstock’s restructuring team represented Los Angeles
Dodgers LLC in its bankruptcy and sale to a group including
former professional basketball player Magic Johnson.
Bill Brennan, a consultant with Altman Weil Inc. who
advises on law firm mergers, said the firm’s debt poses an
obstacle to any merger plans.
“Typically the buyers of a law firm in financial
difficulty are much larger and the debt and financial problems
of the smaller firm are easily absorbed,” Brennan said. There
are only a handful of firms that fit the bill in Dewey’s case,
Brennan said.
Dewey raised $125 million in a 2010 bond offering to
refinance existing bank debt, a rare action by a U.S. law firm.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at
epettersson@bloomberg.net;
Sophia Pearson in Philadelphia at
spearson3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net