Around the Firms

More Financial Trouble for Brobeck Partners

Partners of the now-defunct Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison are facing the prospect of not only not getting paid, but also being liable for the firm's demise. First, Brobeck's bank balked at paying for the preparation of partners' earnings statements for tax purposes, a service for which partners had contributed money out of their own pockets. Second, some lawyers and staffers may be owed money by the firm in the form of deferred salary (one claim is for $80,000), and the head of Brobeck's liquidation committee has asked several former Brobeckers to sue the firm's former Chairman. Several Brobeck refugees that landed at Clifford Chance filed a $10 million suit for breach of contract and defamation. Brobeck countersued for $10 million, but both claims have been put on hold.

Gary Joins Hildebrandt

After 11 years as chairman of Thelen Reid & Priest, Richard Gary has commenced work as a consultant at Hildebrandt International, based in Somerset, NJ. Gary, who recently turned 60, has a previous relationship with the firm's founder, Bradford Hildebrandt, and with some of its consultants. In 1998, Hildebrant assisted in financing a merger between Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges, based in San Francisco, and New York's Reid & Priest.

Jones Day Opens in San Fran

Jones Day now has a San Francisco office ' its 13th in the county and its 29th internationally. For several months, the 2,000-attorney firm had been in the process of putting together a team of laterals for this venture. The main focuses of this office, which will comprise 10 lawyers (with the goal of more than doubling this amount by midsummer), will be litigation, labor and employment and corporate health care work. Robert Mittelstaedt, a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop, assisted the firm in its San Francisco foray.

FedEx Looks for Unsettled Brobeck Bills

Federal Express Corp. sued Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison in May, looking for $133,000 in unsettled bills, and is also seeking interest and lawyer fees. A compliant stated that the firm's outstanding charges go back to October 2002. According to Stephen Snyder, who heads the liquidation committee, Brobeck is in debt to its commercial creditors for approximately $15 million; there is also an unknown sum that is owed to the now-defunct firm's landlords. However, Brobeck needs to settle a bank debt of $56 million before these arrears can be handled.

Enron Cases Move Along With NY Federal Judge as Mediator

Enron Corp.'s shareholder and bankruptcy cases are under way. William S. Learch of Millberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes & Lerach represents the plaintiff's group; Weil Gotshal & Manges' Martin J. Bienenstock represents the debtors' group. There is also a financial institutions group, which Richard W. Clary of Cravath, Swaine & Moore represents. Enron creditors include many financial institutions, among them Citigroup and J. P. Morgan Chase. These institutions, along with some of the others, are defendants in the shareholder suits. They have been charged with aiding the company executives' deception. At press time, Enron was deliberating whether to file suit, which would be on a similar premise, against some of the banks. The parties' willingness to settle was unknown.

Late last month, Southern District Bankruptcy Judge Arthur J. Gonzalez ' overseer of Enron's Chapter 11 bankruptcy ' and the judge who has been hearing the shareholder trial, Melinda Harmon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, issued an order naming Southern District of New York Senior Judge Kevin T. Duffy as mediator among the Enron Corp.'s cases' litigants. Duffy has been a federal judge for more than 30 years, and he presided over the trials of some of those who have been sentenced in the first World Trade Center bombing 10 years ago. The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals praised Duffy in April for his excellence in conducting the two trials of Ramzi Yousef, the brain behind the bombing, whose 1998 conviction was affirmed. According to Gerald B. Lefcourt, a Manhattan criminal defense lawyer, Duffy's shrewdness and his ability to get right to the point make him the ideal choice. Lefcourt's opinion is supported by Richard Emery, civil litigator of New York's Emery Celli Cuti Brinckerhoff & Abady, and by Ropes & Gray (New York office) bankruptcy partner Stuart Hirshfield. However, there also have been claims that the judge is adverse to plaintiffs and to their lawyers.

Teri Zucker is a reporter for Law Firm Partnership & Benefits.

More Financial Trouble for Brobeck Partners

Partners of the now-defunct Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison are facing the prospect of not only not getting paid, but also being liable for the firm's demise. First, Brobeck's bank balked at paying for the preparation of partners' earnings statements for tax purposes, a service for which partners had contributed money out of their own pockets. Second, some lawyers and staffers may be owed money by the firm in the form of deferred salary (one claim is for $80,000), and the head of Brobeck's liquidation committee has asked several former Brobeckers to sue the firm's former Chairman. Several Brobeck refugees that landed at Clifford Chance filed a $10 million suit for breach of contract and defamation. Brobeck countersued for $10 million, but both claims have been put on hold.

Gary Joins Hildebrandt

After 11 years as chairman of Thelen Reid & Priest, Richard Gary has commenced work as a consultant at Hildebrandt International, based in Somerset, NJ. Gary, who recently turned 60, has a previous relationship with the firm's founder, Bradford Hildebrandt, and with some of its consultants. In 1998, Hildebrant assisted in financing a merger between Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges, based in San Francisco, and New York's Reid & Priest.

Jones Day Opens in San Fran

Jones Day now has a San Francisco office ' its 13th in the county and its 29th internationally. For several months, the 2,000-attorney firm had been in the process of putting together a team of laterals for this venture. The main focuses of this office, which will comprise 10 lawyers (with the goal of more than doubling this amount by midsummer), will be litigation, labor and employment and corporate health care work. Robert Mittelstaedt, a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop, assisted the firm in its San Francisco foray.

FedEx Looks for Unsettled Brobeck Bills

Federal Express Corp. sued Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison in May, looking for $133,000 in unsettled bills, and is also seeking interest and lawyer fees. A compliant stated that the firm's outstanding charges go back to October 2002. According to Stephen Snyder, who heads the liquidation committee, Brobeck is in debt to its commercial creditors for approximately $15 million; there is also an unknown sum that is owed to the now-defunct firm's landlords. However, Brobeck needs to settle a bank debt of $56 million before these arrears can be handled.

Enron Cases Move Along With NY Federal Judge as Mediator

Enron Corp.'s shareholder and bankruptcy cases are under way. William S. Learch of Millberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes & Lerach represents the plaintiff's group; Weil Gotshal & Manges' Martin J. Bienenstock represents the debtors' group. There is also a financial institutions group, which Richard W. Clary of Cravath, Swaine & Moore represents. Enron creditors include many financial institutions, among them Citigroup and J. P. Morgan Chase. These institutions, along with some of the others, are defendants in the shareholder suits. They have been charged with aiding the company executives' deception. At press time, Enron was deliberating whether to file suit, which would be on a similar premise, against some of the banks. The parties' willingness to settle was unknown.

Late last month, Southern District Bankruptcy Judge Arthur J. Gonzalez ' overseer of Enron's Chapter 11 bankruptcy ' and the judge who has been hearing the shareholder trial, Melinda Harmon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, issued an order naming Southern District of New York Senior Judge Kevin T. Duffy as mediator among the Enron Corp.'s cases' litigants. Duffy has been a federal judge for more than 30 years, and he presided over the trials of some of those who have been sentenced in the first World Trade Center bombing 10 years ago. The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals praised Duffy in April for his excellence in conducting the two trials of Ramzi Yousef, the brain behind the bombing, whose 1998 conviction was affirmed. According to Gerald B. Lefcourt, a Manhattan criminal defense lawyer, Duffy's shrewdness and his ability to get right to the point make him the ideal choice. Lefcourt's opinion is supported by Richard Emery, civil litigator of New York's Emery Celli Cuti Brinckerhoff & Abady, and by Ropes & Gray (New York office) bankruptcy partner Stuart Hirshfield. However, there also have been claims that the judge is adverse to plaintiffs and to their lawyers.

Teri Zucker is a reporter for Law Firm Partnership & Benefits.