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From an inside source there were some bad actors at the partner level and a lot of money was “missing.” So the decision was made to disband. Lots of people when to Gallagher, Quarles, and Spencer Fane
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If you google it there is an article that says it is insolvent, took a 4 million dollar line of credit from the bank a month or two ago, and has already burned through approx. 3.3 million of it
Apart from any possible bad acts, an easy case could be made that the firm was mismanaged, if managed at all. It wasn’t the just those managing but the management structure, the lack of structure in the firm, compensation for both management and generally, and the management style that made collapse inevitable. There was no “culture” or sense of collegiality, collaboration or common mission that would have held the firm together anyway and anyone willing to voice concern was punished or eliminated altogether. What is particularly disturbing is that there was no coherent plan for dissolution. The partners simply started jumping ship without any regard for those left behind. A “madhouse” as one member of the staff put it. Everything you would expect of those who hold themselves out as answering to a higher calling was completely absent.
Actually, the critique itself is free of anything personal. It is intended as a dispassionate evaluation based on long experience, careful observation and thought. Not that there isn’t any schadenfreude in having the opportunity to comment. Many of the issues the firm faced, however, and the structural issues are endemic to the profession generally.
Is it weird there is still no mainstream coverage on this? It isn't a secret since it's literally all you see on their own website
The mainstream coverage, what there was of it, wasn’t particularly probing. No one in a management or leadership position was interviewed. One senior partner correctly noted that it should have been pursuing a merger either with another local firm or a national firm looking for a foothold in the market. At one point under distant management that course had been successfully pursued only to be shot down by a powerful group in the other firm as the champagne bottles were being uncorked. At one point fairly recently as the firm started dramatic cost cutting, including terminating partners it didn’t think were productive enough, the few paying attention thought that it might be an effort to make a merger more attractive to a potential suitor. But no one really knew what was happening. The Management kept everything close, if not secret, and partnership meetings were useless. Those most likely to know were the staff. One other attorney interviewed thought there weren’t enough young attorneys with books of business. Being young and impressed with his own book of business, he would say that. But he wouldn’t have understood the value of older, wiser and more experienced attorneys anyway, so you can’t place any stock in what he had to say. But he likes to talk and would make a great interview, filling the journalist’s notebook was copious ill considered and uninformed thoughts. That’s all I found. I don’t think we will see a deep dive into its failure and accountability for those responsible.