denotes premium content | Jul 26 2008 
News
posted 6 May 2008
Dewey & LeBoeuf shuts up three shops
INTERNATIONAL LAW firm Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP is set to haveclosed three of its offices in the US by this time next year.
The affected bases are Jacksonville, Florida; Hartford, Connecticut; and Austin, Texas, which are home to 10, 22 and 16 lawyers respectively.
The Jacksonville office is expected to close in December 2008, with Hartford and Austin winding up operations in 2009 – in February and March respectively.
The firm said that all the affected lawyers have been asked to stay and relocate to other offices in the network, adding that the closures are part of its integration plans to focus on key capital markets following the 2007 merger of Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf Lamb Green & MacRae.
In October 2007 this much-publicised merger created a firm of more than 1,400 lawyers and offices in 12 countries, including China, Russia, Italy, Poland, Germany, France and the UK. The firm also has 13 offices across the US.
The Austin office was one of Dewey’s bases before the merger, while LeBoeuf has another Texan presence – in the energy hotspot of Houston.
In other news, in March 2008 the combined firm announced the arrival of Michel Quéré to head up its Paris banking and finance practice, as well as the appointment of Eric Schwartz to the Paris managing partner position.
Quéré was previously a head of finance at magic-circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, while Schwartz, also formerly of Freshfields, replaces the retiring managing partner Yves Huyghe de Mahenge.
