Probe of Dewey & LeBoeuf Focuses Largely on Law Firm's Chairman

Woes at Law Firm Deepen
Probe of Dewey & LeBoeuf Focuses Largely on Law Firm's Chairman, According to Internal Memo
BY JENNIFER SMITH, ASHBY JONES AND STEVE EDER
Wall Street Journal
April 27, 2012

One of New York's largest law firms, already engulfed in a financial crisis that threatens its survival, is being investigated by the Manhattan district attorney's office.

The firm, Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, has been wrestling with the effects of big guaranteed pay packages that were handed out to top lawyers even as corporate clients were pushing back on legal fees. Those two factors, along with heavy debt and a wave of departures by partners, are dragging down Dewey, formed four years ago by merging two storied law firms.

The district attorney's investigation is focusing on former Chairman Steven Davis...