Dewey & LeBoeuf is attempting to find new jobs for its trainee solicitors as the London office faces collapse.
It is not clear whether the firm is in direct talks with other firms about taking its trainees on or whether the Law Society is involved.
The firm has confirmed that six trainees from corporate, corporate finance, litigation and banking have already left the firm alongside some of the partners that have already exited.
Meanwhile, the remaining 14 trainees, who are split between first and second year seats, continue to face an uncertain future as the firm looks to reposition the two cohorts to allow them to complete their professional training.
Elsewhere, a spokesperson has confirmed that the firm’s summer 2012 vacation scheme has been cancelled due to the firm’s circumstances, and that the HR team is communicating with the September 2012 and March 2013 intakes.
When UK firm Halliwells went into administration in 2010 Bristol’s Burges Salmon launched a scheme to prompt other firms to offer a lifeline to prospective trainees (2 August 2010). A total of 35 firms signed up to the scheme with the bulk of the trainees finding new homes (15 November 2010).
The Dewey trainee news comes as The Lawyer reveals that the troubled firm is set to lose members of its top management team for the first time since the new group was introduced, with litigation head Jeffrey Kessler quitting for Winston & Strawn as part of a 22-partner defection and Richard Shutran joining O’Melveny & Myers (10 May 2012).
Last week The Lawyer revealed that the US firm has told its remaining London associates that it cannot ensure it will pay their salaries beyond the end of May (8 May 2012).
Readers' comments (3)
Anonymous | 10-May-2012 11:41 am
The death knell. However I know some people who were transferred as trainees from Anderson Legal, and in the long run this was the best thing that could have happened to them.
If this could happen to a global giant, why couldn't it happen to a Shoosmiths or Dickinson Dees?
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Anonymous | 11-May-2012 11:21 am
I was a trainee at a small high street firm that closed part way through my Training Contract.
I was amazed to find that there was no help whatosever from the Law Society for people in my situation. I was, in effect, back in the huge pool of LPC graduates looking for a training contract.
I was lucky to find another firm to take me on, and I am now qualified.
My point is, this could happen to any trainee at any time. There but for the grace of God go any of us!
Given the current economic climate, perhaps time for The Law Society to think about what happens to trainees when firms go under.
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Anonymous | 17-May-2012 10:38 am
What a nightmare. Let us hope that the Law Society does better than with Halliwells. Have they even made any statement? A search for "dewey" on their website does not provide any recent hits: www.lawsociety.org.uk/search?query=dewey&searchname=search1
On a related point, can you stop using the phrase "face an uncertain future"? Unfortunately, the future of the trainees with Dewey is all too clear - there is none.
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