Restructuring the IP practice

More law firm reductions kicked off the week, with Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP laying off 99, Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP letting go of 25 and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP cutting 10 percent of its work force. Fried Frank confirmed Monday that it had reduced its head count by 41 associates and 58 administrative staff members, citing the negative impact of the financial crisis on clients.

Bryan Cave LLP has added another intellectual property litigator to the firm's list of partners, luring Kara E. F. Cenar from the newly merged K&L Gates LLP.
Cenar, who joins the firm's Chicago offices, has spent her career litigating intellectual property law, advising clients on their IP rights, and developing enforcement programs to avoid infringement.

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Bloody Thursday: Major Law Firms Ax Attorneys and Staff

In the single ugliest day for the legal industry since the economic downturn began, eight major firms announced a total of 748 layoffs Thursday, including 320 lawyers and 428 staff members.
The eight firms that announced staff cuts were Holland & Knight LLP, DLA Piper, Bryan Cave LLP, Goodwin Procter LLP, Epstein Becker & Green, PC, Faegre & Benson LLP, Dechert, and Nixon Peabody. Read more here.

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Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP

The troubled firm of Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP, which last week began seeking a merger to avoid dissolution, has been selected by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to advise on the government's Wall Street bailout. The firm, reportedly, will be paid $500,000 to help the government handle investments that involve purchasing toxic asset-backed securities.

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Troubled Law Firms

Marc Dreier, litigator, founder and managing partner of a prominent law firm, Dreier LLP, was arrested on fraud charges for allegedly swindling two top hedge funds of what a U.S. prosecutor now estimates to be $380 million. Prosecutor Jonathan Streeter called Dreier a "Houdini of impersonation." Firm attorneys said in court papers that Dreier spent as much as $40 million on artwork to decorate Dreier LLP’s offices in New York and five other cities. In light of these news, "the court-appointed receiver, Mark Pomerantz, a partner with Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, warned remaining attorneys not to expect any more paychecks." This began the collapse of the once lucrative practice and forced majority of the lawyers to move on.

New York Times reported that people left at the firm have said that the firm "could not make its payroll, the Christmas party at the Waldorf-Astoria was canceled and the firm lacked the ability to pay the rent at its Park Avenue offices."

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Philadelphia-based law firm, Wolf Block LLP, has reportedly let go 15 associates and staff members last week. The layoffs were first reported by an online blog Above the Law. According to Above the Law, the reductions were based on firm finances and not performance.

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Unemployed Lawyers

Apparently the auto and bank industries are not the only ones to be hit by the financial meltdown and the jobless tsunami that followed. Law firms have been struggling for some time and now as the economy worsens, the number of unemployed lawyers nationwide has substantially increased.

Rumor has it that Ropes & Gray LLP is not going to give salary increases this December, however, bonuses are still forthcoming. Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP has reportedly reached out to King & Spalding LLP about the possibility of taking over the struggling firm in order to avoid dissolution. Legal Times has reported that King & Spalding may take over approximately 100 of Thacher's 195 lawyers, but that it's not yet clear which practices and offices the 100 lawyers would come from. A New York legal consultant has said that "There's a tremendous amount of uncertainty about who's going to be invited to the party."

Howrey LLP has let go of approximately 10 associates. The firm said in a statement on Thursday that these were not layoffs but “outplacements.”

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A bit about this blog!

Originally I wanted to combine writing about photography and intellectual property law on my photography blog. However, after starting my photography blog I quickly realized that each topic deserved it's own space. So, this is how I got here. Welcome to my Intellectual Property Blog! Here you will find IP information, recent industry developments, IP law, useful links and information as well as links to job postings that I find interesting.

I also would like to take the opportunity to tell you more about me and my IP experiences since the 'About Me' page contains little information. I have been working in the IP industry since 1998. I am not an attorney but have extensive IP knowledge. For the past ten years my focus has been patent prosecution and my positions varied between paralegal and manager levels. It is worth noting that in the past two years I have focused on Trademark and Copyright prosecution as well as IP enforcement rights. Luckily, I have had the opportunity to work for several IP boutiques in NY as well as some of the largest world wide known law firms within their IP departments. Currently, I work in the legal department for one of the largest news organizations.

Please note the disclosure on the bottom of the page. It is imperative for the readers of this site to know that the information found on this web page should not be taken as legal advice and that the opinions displayed here or comments left on other pages do not reflect those of my current or past employers.

If you would like to contribute to this blog, please drop me a line to irene.keselman at gmail dot com.

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