Our own Legal Staffing Experts, Chere Estrin and Lynda Stevens, were contacted by Law360 regarding this year’s bombshell fallout of hate, sexism and antisemitism that blew up Daugherty Lordan LLP and still roils & Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP.
Excerpt of Article Below:
Daugherty Lordan, Lewis Brisbois Exits Jolt
Recruiting Market
By Xiumei Dong
Law360 (August 23, 2023, 4:46 PM EDT) — The exposure of antisemitic remarks in emails exchanged between two former partners of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP has not only led to the downfall of their breakaway firm but has also left many attorneys from both firms scrambling to secure new career paths in a competitive job market.
Aside from the lawyers associated with the disbanding Daugherty Lordan LLP who are actively seeking new positions, legal recruiters in the market suggest that attorneys from Lewis Brisbois are also actively exploring alternative opportunities to distance themselves from the situation.
Lynda Stevens, the chief attorney recruiter and business development manager at Estrin Legal Staffing, said that her firm has received “numerous calls” from partners at Lewis Brisbois who are interested in making a transition since the public disclosure of the emails.
Adding to this, Chere Estrin, CEO of Estrin Legal Staffing, noted that some of these inquiries involve attorneys at the upper management level of the firm as well as professional staff.
“We’re seeing a tremendous amount of people in staff wanting out, from both firms,” Estrin said. “They’re going to … eventually have a hard time getting staff, which means, again, the attorneys are going to be unhappy because they can’t keep anybody. It’s just this domino effect.”
A spokesperson for Lewis Brisbois disputed the recruiters’ observation, saying the firm has “more lawyers, more clients, and more matters” than it had three months ago. “Our clients are satisfied and we will continue to grow to meet their demands,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Law360 Pulse on Tuesday.
Earlier in the week, Lewis Brisbois announced that it had added Paul Muniz, formerly the chair of the trial department at Donovan Hatem LLP, to its Boston office. However, it also saw a fifth partner depart for Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP In New York and a civil litigator leave the firm to join Kennedys in Miami.
Legal service provider Leopard Solutions has tracked 278 attorney departures from Lewis Brisbois in the past three months from May 1 to Aug. 23, 130 partners and 148 associates. Leopard Solutions said those numbers include the 125 attorneys who left in May to establish their own firm, Barber Ranen, with John Barber and Jeff Ranen at the helm.
Editors Note: Bolding and images of Chere Estrin and Lynda Stevens added.
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Chere Estrin wrote and article about this incident on her blog. The Estrin Report.
Taking A Stand Against Hate, Discrimination & Anti-Semitism
