LOL 4:33, right. all's ok, la la la, nevermind that people already knew this was happening, nevermind that word inside howrey + on the street is EPA's closing, la la la, nevermind that WAY more than "70 partners" have departed, la la la, ruyak's a genius, howrey will bounce right back, leaner, meaner, + more PPP. Oh wait, there aren't many partners left, are there? And A/R? While high, actual collections are...ooops. Nevermind the movers in the middle of the night in offices, those partners are just disgruntled + la la la, we wanted them gone anyway. It's ok, here's a howrey sweatshirt- smile, la la la, never better...isn't that what ruyak said in 08-09, la la la, oh, well, that 1st round of layoffs was a 'preventative measure' but don't you worry, 'there will be no more layoffs', la la la, what's that you say, a third round of layoffs? la la la, it's ok, have some koolaid.
@ 8:09 - Word inside is not that EPA is closing (though I guess they could have simply forgotten to mention it). As for word on the street, maybe it's word on the street in DC, but I don't think it's the word on University Circle in EPA. Obviously doesn't mean it's not the case. Sometimes the words don't make it out of the heads of Ruyak, Boland, Ripley, etc. all the way to the street or to the inside of Howrey.
Also, pretty sure 4:33 is being sarcastic. Maybe you knew that, but your comment made me wonder.
@Matt Wolf (10:14). Why are they/you keeping the offices open with so few partners? I'm not trying to be smart, I'm genuinely curious. What is the thinking of Howrey/Winston there? W&S will hire new folks to take the space, or just that those folks will come into W&S and then Winston will try to lease/sell the physical building.
And Matt, if that is you (and I think it is), I wish you could understand how freaked out your employees are and appreciate that they have every rational reason for being so. As a (now) outsider, I have to admit that your protestations seem fairly hollow because best-case would appear to be that 25% of the people now there are in a lot of trouble, with the other 3/4s stepping into a less than ideal (but surely better than presently-unemployed) situation at Winston.
I am an outsider but have a close family member who works at Howrey, so I have taken a keen interest in following this as it unfolds. The way this crisis has been handled only serves to confirm the rumors of utter ineptness with Howrey's top management to everyone outside the firm. The employees have nothing to go on, so rumors start spreading. The gossip makes it to the media and the media starts speculating. Then the blogosphere starts speculating. Now, clients, the press, employees and everyone else believe the firm is nothing more than a dead man walking ... or perhaps the next Bear Sterns of law firms via a White Knight rescue from Winston. Unfortunately, now that the Howrey name has become so radioactive in the past few weeks (due to in great part to inept crisis handling) Howrey might unfortunately end up as the Lehman Brothers of law firms. If this firm fails, or becomes a cobbled-together pick-n-pull non-merger with Winston with a BK of Howrey, it will be nothing less than a referendum on DC management idiots.
10:30 here. First, 10:34, you made my morning. Second, 11:23, I think that's very insightful, particularly from an outsider.
I found it frustrating as an associate at Howrey that the powers that be would rail against the press or associates or whomever for misunderstanding them, rather than attempting to be understood. Their response, particularly Matt's (and I don't mean to pile on him since I think he's a good attorney who simply shouldn't have been tasked with any type of associate-management), was to stubbornly insist that it should not be management's obligation to worry about what associates or outsiders thought unless they [the partners] felt that those thoughts were important/intelligent/worthy.
What they missed is that associate/outsider concerns, whatever management thought of them, ultimately were going to (and did) impact the business and that they needed to be managed intelligently. Or, to oversimplify it, complaining about ATL, et al.'s impact on large law firms (and I can't imagine a management team that thinks its good for them personally, although John Quinn seems to enjoy it), doesn't change the fact that intelligent law firms need to recognize and respond to that impact, not ignore it.
BFD re Yale; it's certainly no Cooley: http://abovethelaw.com/2011/02/latest-cooley-law-school-rankings-achieve-new-heights-of-intellectual-dishonesty/
Guys - get a grip. As far as you should be concerned, every office is closing. Period. I'm sorry, but this is what a complete belly-up looks like. The reason there is no news from management is that THEY HAVE NOTHING to offer. This is the ENDGAME. It's over. Stop jerking around about whether California office #1,284 is going to remain open - it's not. Move on.
11:23 here... It's quite amusing to see what are clearly management shills trying to do "damage control" on this site. Too little, too late. Perhaps if they would have spent their energy controlling/preventing the crisis in the first place (instead of being in denial like Dick Fuld at Lehman Bros.) they wouldn't be in the position they are in now: controlled by the crisis.
funny how people say offices aren't closing. why ruyak's not even announced irvine's closing. let's see...administrator was fired in november, ALL the big name partners have left (taking their secretaries + associates w/them), they can't fill 1 floor much less 2, etc. yeah, that office isn't closing...all's fine, la la la. i'm sure the 3 nor cal offices (b/c WS REALLY needs all that duplication/ office space, right?) will be just fine. don't worry, you didn't hear EPA's closing from the "inside" la la la, oops, there went another partner out the door. why are all these partners leaving if all's happy/ok? brobeck, mofo, thelen, etc. all said 'it's ok'. and oh yes, so did lehman and enron. ooops, guess you can't always trust the 'men in suits' @ the top, eh?
when you see email lists of certain offices have things like "(office name)-departure", yeah, that's a good sign the office is closing. when you see managing partners leaving (often in the middle of the night), yeah, that's a good sign the office is closing. really, why would bunsow, rooklidge, gooding, + many other BIG $/business partners leave if WS was magically going to save howrey's offices? WS has no interest in a partner w/a $20M book? it was all part of ruyak's 'grand restructuring?'
Really, all the offices are in some sense closing. Only real issue is whether and to what extent the leases will be picked up by WS and who will/will not be offered a position at WS. Sad but true. So "mamangement" of Howrey, whatever in the world that is or means, will not know what happens to what offices until they are advised by WS. There has not been any actual management at Howrey for a long time and there is even less now.
Howrey's been mismanaged for a long time. Its just a question of whether YOU want to be part of a dead firm. At this point, despite Ruyak's bleating, Howrey is a zombie firm. I would follow the lead of the departing partners and go elsewhere. All the signs are there. Read it and take the initiative instead of.being mindless sheep.
I don't understand why everyone is so worried: they said that all these departures were part of the grand plan, right?
ReplyDeleteRight? Everything is going according to plan. Why don't you guys believe them? They're not going to openly lie about something like this!
LOL 4:33, right. all's ok, la la la, nevermind that people already knew this was happening, nevermind that word inside howrey + on the street is EPA's closing, la la la, nevermind that WAY more than "70 partners" have departed, la la la, ruyak's a genius, howrey will bounce right back, leaner, meaner, + more PPP. Oh wait, there aren't many partners left, are there? And A/R? While high, actual collections are...ooops. Nevermind the movers in the middle of the night in offices, those partners are just disgruntled + la la la, we wanted them gone anyway. It's ok, here's a howrey sweatshirt- smile, la la la, never better...isn't that what ruyak said in 08-09, la la la, oh, well, that 1st round of layoffs was a 'preventative measure' but don't you worry, 'there will be no more layoffs', la la la, what's that you say, a third round of layoffs? la la la, it's ok, have some koolaid.
ReplyDelete@ 8:09 - Word inside is not that EPA is closing (though I guess they could have simply forgotten to mention it). As for word on the street, maybe it's word on the street in DC, but I don't think it's the word on University Circle in EPA. Obviously doesn't mean it's not the case. Sometimes the words don't make it out of the heads of Ruyak, Boland, Ripley, etc. all the way to the street or to the inside of Howrey.
ReplyDeleteAlso, pretty sure 4:33 is being sarcastic. Maybe you knew that, but your comment made me wonder.
Word inside is that EPA is remaining open.
ReplyDeleteEPA is remaining open. Dammit, there is so much misinformation on these comments, its absurd.
ReplyDeleteCan someone please provide accurate information on the DC office?
ReplyDelete@Matt Wolf (10:14). Why are they/you keeping the offices open with so few partners? I'm not trying to be smart, I'm genuinely curious. What is the thinking of Howrey/Winston there? W&S will hire new folks to take the space, or just that those folks will come into W&S and then Winston will try to lease/sell the physical building.
ReplyDeleteAnd Matt, if that is you (and I think it is), I wish you could understand how freaked out your employees are and appreciate that they have every rational reason for being so. As a (now) outsider, I have to admit that your protestations seem fairly hollow because best-case would appear to be that 25% of the people now there are in a lot of trouble, with the other 3/4s stepping into a less than ideal (but surely better than presently-unemployed) situation at Winston.
I really don't think Matt Wolf would deign to comment on a blog read by us unwashed masses. I mean, really. He went to YALE, for chrissakes.
ReplyDeleteI am an outsider but have a close family member who works at Howrey, so I have taken a keen interest in following this as it unfolds. The way this crisis has been handled only serves to confirm the rumors of utter ineptness with Howrey's top management to everyone outside the firm. The employees have nothing to go on, so rumors start spreading. The gossip makes it to the media and the media starts speculating. Then the blogosphere starts speculating. Now, clients, the press, employees and everyone else believe the firm is nothing more than a dead man walking ... or perhaps the next Bear Sterns of law firms via a White Knight rescue from Winston. Unfortunately, now that the Howrey name has become so radioactive in the past few weeks (due to in great part to inept crisis handling) Howrey might unfortunately end up as the Lehman Brothers of law firms. If this firm fails, or becomes a cobbled-together pick-n-pull non-merger with Winston with a BK of Howrey, it will be nothing less than a referendum on DC management idiots.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with 11:23's analysis.
ReplyDelete10:30 here. First, 10:34, you made my morning. Second, 11:23, I think that's very insightful, particularly from an outsider.
ReplyDeleteI found it frustrating as an associate at Howrey that the powers that be would rail against the press or associates or whomever for misunderstanding them, rather than attempting to be understood. Their response, particularly Matt's (and I don't mean to pile on him since I think he's a good attorney who simply shouldn't have been tasked with any type of associate-management), was to stubbornly insist that it should not be management's obligation to worry about what associates or outsiders thought unless they [the partners] felt that those thoughts were important/intelligent/worthy.
What they missed is that associate/outsider concerns, whatever management thought of them, ultimately were going to (and did) impact the business and that they needed to be managed intelligently. Or, to oversimplify it, complaining about ATL, et al.'s impact on large law firms (and I can't imagine a management team that thinks its good for them personally, although John Quinn seems to enjoy it), doesn't change the fact that intelligent law firms need to recognize and respond to that impact, not ignore it.
Perhaps Steve O'Neal should be asked for advice as to how to handle this crisis. Oh wait, he destroyed Thelen. Maybe he's not the best choice.
ReplyDelete@10:34,
ReplyDeleteBFD re Yale; it's certainly no Cooley: http://abovethelaw.com/2011/02/latest-cooley-law-school-rankings-achieve-new-heights-of-intellectual-dishonesty/
well, still more than 500 lawyers: http://howrey.com/news/newsdetail.aspx?news=26541
ReplyDeleteEarly articles were predicting that DC would close their doors at the end of this month. Is that still the case?
ReplyDeleteWhat? No. Who ever suggested DC would close?
ReplyDelete@2:08 Are you trying to be funny and sarcastic?
ReplyDeleteGuys - get a grip. As far as you should be concerned, every office is closing. Period. I'm sorry, but this is what a complete belly-up looks like. The reason there is no news from management is that THEY HAVE NOTHING to offer. This is the ENDGAME. It's over. Stop jerking around about whether California office #1,284 is going to remain open - it's not. Move on.
ReplyDelete11:23 here... It's quite amusing to see what are clearly management shills trying to do "damage control" on this site. Too little, too late. Perhaps if they would have spent their energy controlling/preventing the crisis in the first place (instead of being in denial like Dick Fuld at Lehman Bros.) they wouldn't be in the position they are in now: controlled by the crisis.
ReplyDeletefunny how people say offices aren't closing. why ruyak's not even announced irvine's closing. let's see...administrator was fired in november, ALL the big name partners have left (taking their secretaries + associates w/them), they can't fill 1 floor much less 2, etc. yeah, that office isn't closing...all's fine, la la la. i'm sure the 3 nor cal offices (b/c WS REALLY needs all that duplication/ office space, right?) will be just fine. don't worry, you didn't hear EPA's closing from the "inside" la la la, oops, there went another partner out the door. why are all these partners leaving if all's happy/ok? brobeck, mofo, thelen, etc. all said 'it's ok'. and oh yes, so did lehman and enron. ooops, guess you can't always trust the 'men in suits' @ the top, eh?
ReplyDeletewhen you see email lists of certain offices have things like "(office name)-departure", yeah, that's a good sign the office is closing. when you see managing partners leaving (often in the middle of the night), yeah, that's a good sign the office is closing. really, why would bunsow, rooklidge, gooding, + many other BIG $/business partners leave if WS was magically going to save howrey's offices? WS has no interest in a partner w/a $20M book? it was all part of ruyak's 'grand restructuring?'
Really, all the offices are in some sense closing. Only real issue is whether and to what extent the leases will be picked up by WS and who will/will not be offered a position at WS. Sad but true. So "mamangement" of Howrey, whatever in the world that is or means, will not know what happens to what offices until they are advised by WS. There has not been any actual management at Howrey for a long time and there is even less now.
ReplyDeleteHowrey's been mismanaged for a long time. Its just a question of whether YOU want to be part of a dead firm. At this point, despite Ruyak's bleating, Howrey is a zombie firm. I would follow the lead of the departing partners and go elsewhere. All the signs are there. Read it and take the initiative instead of.being mindless sheep.
ReplyDeleteThis is indeed a sad day.
ReplyDeleteEPA doesn't need another empty shell of a building.
With Howrey gone, the Four Seasons is really doomed.
The Four Seasons will be fine. DLA, Dewey, Bingham, etc aren't going away.
ReplyDelete