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Law Firm Bankruptcies
With globalization and the increasing number of mergers; with the opening of more branch offices by the national firms; and with record number of lawyers leaving law firms, competition in the legal profession has become more intense and cutthroat. As a result, are there more law firm bankruptcies on the horizon? If so, what are the ramifications? What procedures must be followed? The goal of this article is to provide an overview of the basic issues likely to surface in a law firm bankruptcy case.
Finley Kumble, Gaston & Snow, Altheimer & Gray, Arter & Hadden, Brobeck Phleger & Harrison, all prominent law firms in their prime that wound up in bankruptcy. See: In re Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, 85 B.R.13 (Bankr. S.D. N.Y., filed March 2, 1988); In re Gaston & Snow, Case No. 91-B-14594 (Bankr. S.D. N.Y., filed Oct. 10, 1991); In re Altheimer & Gray, Case No. 03-B-43547 (Bankr. D. Ill. Oct. 24, 2003); In re Arter & Hadden, LLP, Case No. 03-23293 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio, filed Oct. 6, 2003); In re Brobeck Phleger & Harrison, LLP, Case No. 03-32715 (Bankr. N.D. Cal., filed Sept. 17, 2003).
The ability of a law firm partnership to operate as a going concern may be called into question for a variety of reasons. For example, overly-rapid expansions, over-leveraging, industry specific problems, the cyclical nature of our economy, mismanagement, and fraud have all had a catalytic effect on the need for companies to seek the protections afforded by the Bankruptcy Code (United States Code Title 11). Although historically less common than their corporate counterparts, partner attrition in the wake of the “dot-com” crash and in light of the growing merger trend among professional service firms have contributed to an increase in the incidence of law firm partnership bankruptcies.
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