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(UPDATE) Things Are So Bad at Law Firm Dewey & LeBoeuf That One of Its Top Partners Left for KPMG

Posted on by Caleb Newquist

You might not be aware of this, but mega law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf is in a lot of trouble. It seems to have started back in February with rumors of financial troubles and things have spiraled from there. Partners leaving in droves. Late bonuses. Layoffs. Problems with K-1s. The bright side of all these troubles is the myriad of punny headlines at Above the Law.

Today, David Lat posted an internal memo from D&L that encourages partners to seek "alternative opportunities," although a prominent tax partner (like many others) didn't bother waiting:
[Fred] Gander, a tax lawyer who joined legacy Dewey Ballantine in 1986 and led the firm's London office prior to its 2007 merger with LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae, is joining KPMG's US arm to head its US tax practice for Europe and the Middle East. He is also the head of Dewey's European supervisory committee and is known throughout the firm as one of its most successful tax lawyers. He recently stood down from the firmwide executive committee as a part of a wider group of partners leaving the committee in protest at the way management has been dealing with the firm's issues, according to partners within the firm.
Dewey smell desperation? I kid, I kid. KPMG has a fine tax practice and picking up Mr. Gander sounds like a huge win for the firm at Dewey's expense. Of course, what we're all thinking over here in accounting land is that this will eventually be a win for PwC.
 
UPDATE, May 9, 2012: Per this handy-dandy search tool that the Wall Street Journal created, we learned that KPMG actually nabbed three tax partners from D&L. In addition to Mr. Gander, Julio Castro and Herschel Wein both joined the House of Klynveld on April 27th and 25th respectively. No other accounting firms are listed in the Journal's report as having a Dewey partner join their ranks. Dewey think KPMG is excited about this?
 

 

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