Article from the Texas Lawyer detailing Baker Botts and Winston gains

Here it is.

Finally, a great article

Stephen Harper at the American Lawyer deserves some serious credit for cutting through the crap that Howrey's official sources have given for the demise.

Stephen, thanks for a great article.

Howrey Owes Citibank $75M

You can read about it right here. My big concern is how Howrey will meet its payroll obligations and fund benefits during the WARN period now that Citibank is in the driver's seat.

Howrey: It's Time to Update Your Website

Howrey has announced its dissolution, published a press release, and there's news all over the information superhighway about it...except on Howrey's website.

Consider DC Bar ethics opinion 249, which sets forth DC Ethics Rule 7.1(a):

The portion of the District of Columbia Rules of Professional Conduct applicable to this inquiry is Rule 7.1(a), which provides:

(a) A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services. A communication is false or misleading if it:
   (1) contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law, or omits a fact necessary to make the statement considered as a whole not materially misleading; or
   (2) contains an assertion about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services that cannot be substantiated.

As the ethics opinion states, "In determining whether the advertisement in question violates Rule 7.1(a), the primary test, therefore, is whether the advertisement, or any portion of it, is misleading."

We can all agree that it's time for Howrey to update its website with information that it's about to close.  Does anyone care to weigh in whether the failure to update constitutes an ethical violation?

Howrey's Houston Head Speaks (A Little) About the Move to Winston

Apparently, the Houston office is still moving en masse to Winston.  Not much in the way of new news, but you can read about it here and here.

Thanks to an anonymous commenter for providing the links.

Houston: Do We Have A Problem?

One commenter reports that conflicts are emerging between the work handled by the Houston office and Winston & Strawn. Does anyone have information to share?

More Nonsense from Ruyak: Part II

The WSJ published a follow-up to its interview with Ruyak on its law blog.  Nothing more than quotes from Ruyak, utterly devoid of analysis.

Ruyak blames the demise of Howrey on issues that have faced virtually every AmLaw 100 firm:  being a litigation firm on a global scale, third-party ediscovery vendors, the growing use of alternative fee arrangements, and the recession.

Shame on WSJ for pretending to be a good source of news about the legal industry.  Any legal reporter worth a damn should have sufficient intelligence and experience to realize that Ruyak's reasons are utter bullshit and don't pass the laugh test and publish a real article that accurately reports on the reasons for Howrey's demise, rather than an effortless analysis-free article that masquerades as such.