BDO administrators to Dewey & LeBoeuf make 96 redundancies

BDO administrators to Dewey & LeBoeuf make 96 redundancies

BDO administrators to collapsed law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf make 96 layoffs in its now-defunct London office

DEWEY & LEBOEUF ADMINISTRATORS have made 96 redundancies in its now-defunct London office, with a core team of 12 support staff members retained to assist with the wind-down of the business.

The firm’s UK limited liability partnership (LLP), which also includes the Paris office, was officially placed into administration this week, with BDO business restructuring partners Mark Shaw and Shay Bannon appointed as joint administrators.

The London and Paris offices officially stopped trading around the same time, Accountancy Age’s sister publication LegalWeek reports.

The US bankruptcy filing occurred about 12 hours later, with a Chapter 11 filing submitted in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan at 9pm New York time.

The wind-down of the UK LLP, which is being overseen by the administrators, director of administration Karen Morrissey and CMS Cameron McKenna partner Rita Lowe, will take up to 12 months to complete.

A significant part of the work for an orderly wind-down of the City base has already taken place. The aim is to realise the assets of the business as quickly as possible and arrange for all remaining files to be safely archived in accordance with regulations in the coming two weeks.

According to one former partner, there are more than 20 main creditors in the UK, including the firm’s Mincing Lane landlord. The UK LLP had annual commitments on property leases of £2.3m, with the leases due to run until 2017.

More than half of the 96 redundant staff members have already found new jobs, with many of them joining partners who have secured moves to new firms including Morgan Lewis & Bockius and McDermott Will & Emery, according to the administrators.

At the end of March, Dewey’s London office had 35 partners, 77 lawyers and 87 support staff.

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource