Dechert offers incoming associates delayed starts, Stroock eases merger path, departing DOJ official promises 'big settlements,' and more ?
Reuters Legal
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Dechert is giving some summer associates who would join the firm as associates in the fall of 2024 the option to postpone their start date by a year, offering a $75,000 stipend if they choose to work for a nonprofit organization in the meantime.
"While there is a spot for all should they choose to start in the fall of 2024, we created the opportunity for up to 20 summer associates to defer for a year and come back in the fall of 2025," a spokesperson for the Philadelphia-founded firm said in a statement.
"They are welcome to explore, study, travel or experience another opportunity," the spokesperson said. "For those looking to spend the year working for a pro bono or not-for-profit organization through Dechert, we are also offering a $75,000 stipend and benefits."
Several other firms have recently delayed the start date for at least some of this year's new associates by a few months.
Cooley in June said it would give some incoming corporate associates this year the option of delaying their start dates by a year in exchange for a $100,000 stipend. Otherwise, they will start in January but may be assigned to a different practice group.
Katten Muchin Rosenman said last week it will defer the start date for a portion of its incoming class of associates to Feb. 1. Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Fenwick & West , and Perkins Coie have also postponed start dates for at least some incoming lawyers to January.
A group of U.S. lawyers whose securities fraud lawsuit against Wells Fargo & Co led to a $1 billion class-action settlement in May said they are seeking $180 million in fees.
Attorneys from the firms Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll and Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann spearheaded claims that Wells Fargo misled shareholders about its progress in recovering from a series of scandals over its treatment of customers.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs were able to seek up to 19% of the settlement for legal fees under the terms of the agreement. On Friday, the lawyers asked the judge to approve 18%, as well as another $1.2 million for costs and expenses, arguing the award is "fair and reasonable."
In their fee request, the plaintiffs' lawyers cited Wells Fargo's "experienced and able counsel" from a swath of firms, including Sullivan & Cromwell; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; and Shearman & Sterling.
"In the face of this skillful opposition, lead counsel, nonetheless, successfully litigated the claims and negotiated with defendants to settle the case on terms that are extremely favorable to the settlement class."
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Stroock & Stroock & Lavan has received the necessary votes from retired partners to move forward with a complete buyout of the law firm's pension, a leader of the firm said on Monday.
Stroock's partnership last week authorized a complete buyout of its pension, seeking to remove a roadblock as it pursues a merger with another law firm. The firm said retired partners had until Tuesday to vote on the plan.
Co-managing partner Alan Klinger said in a statement Monday that the New York-founded firm is "optimistic about achieving a desired merger."
The firm has reportedly been in talks with other firms since at least last year, when it lost a large restructuring group to another firm. Stroock was recently in discussions with Boston-founded Nixon Peabody, though the two firms ended talks last month.
As Kenneth Polite steps down this month as the head of the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division, he will leave behind a flurry of major corporate settlements that he told Reuters in an exit interview will hit federal court dockets soon.
Polite, who will join the law firm Sidley Austin this October as a partner in its white collar defense and investigations practice, spoke with Reuters just days before he officially resigned as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, a position he has held since July 2021.
"What you're going to see is a very strong pipeline of investigations that will result in some resolutions in the very-near future, but may have been impacted by the COVID pandemic," he said.
The types of resolutions he is referring to often involve large fines that companies pay to settle criminal charges of foreign bribery or money laundering.
In 2022, there were seven such global resolutions in which the DOJ was involved totaling $2.14 billion in penalties. Among the companies that entered global settlements that year included Glencore and Honeywell International.
Polite said the department's recent corporate investigations involved "much larger schemes and activities."
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