Arter & Hadden News

[andViolins]

From the 6/28/03 Plain Dealer:

"Arter & Hadden said yesterday that the Cleveland-based law firm has money to continue operat ing until July 15."

Full article (more of a business blurb) here:

http://www.cleveland.com/search/inde...3620.xml?bxdia

aV

[andViolins]

From 6/30/03 Plain Dealer:

"The champagne bottles are not being popped as often as they were in the 1990s, but most Cleveland corporate law firms have made it through the economic slowdown unscathed, unlike the faltering Arter & Hadden."

Full article is here:

http://www.cleveland.com/search/inde...3671.xml?bxbiz

aV

[Shape Shifter]

From the other site's Greedy Texas Board:

Arter & Hadden LLP
Winding up of Arter & Hadden LLP and Notice of Termination of Employment

TO: All Personnel - All Offices
DATE: June 27, 2003
RE: Winding up of Arter & Hadden LLP and Notice of Termination of Employment

Unfortunately, we must now report that efforts to obtain the additional financing and required concessions from Arter & Hadden's landlords to continue the law firm have been unsuccessful. As a result, we are planning for the winding up of the affairs of Arter & Hadden.

We will need to permanently terminate the employment of substantially all employees of Arter & Hadden at the end of the business day on July 15, 2003. This will result in the permanent closing of our offices in their entirety. No bumping rights exist.

As many of you know, we had been negotiating with our lenders in an effort to obtain additional capital as well as with our landlords. We believed that we had a realistic opportunity to obtain rent concessions and the additional funding that would have been sufficient to permit Arter & Hadden to continue to operate going forward. However, due to the sensitivity of the negotiations, we believed that giving notice sooner may have put the discussions at risk, and eliminated any chance to restructure our debt and continue operations. Accordingly, we are giving you as much notice as is practicable under the circumstances.

Thank you for your cooperation and patience during these difficult times. We will keep you apprised if any changes take place. If you have any questions please contact the Cleveland Office Administrator, [name and number removed] or the local Office Administrator assigned to your particular office.

http://www.infirmation.com/bboard/cl...&msg_id=002DMH

[ms. naughty diplomat]

Originally posted by andViolins
From the 6/28/03 Plain Dealer:

"Arter & Hadden said yesterday that the Cleveland-based law firm has money to continue operat ing until July 15."

i kind of doubt that there will be much incentive to bill lots of hours over the next couple of weeks for the people at arter. although maybe the partners will want to make whatever books of business that they have. you can tell the situation is pretty bleak when news of two firms demise comes at the same time



any idea where the lawyers in cleveland and columbus are going to go?

ms. naughty diplomat

[ms. naughty diplomat]

Originally posted by andViolins
From 6/30/03 Plain Dealer:

"The champagne bottles are not being popped as often as they were in the 1990s, but most Cleveland corporate law firms have made it through the economic slowdown unscathed, unlike the faltering Arter & Hadden."

Full article is here:

on a related note the new amlaw 100 rankings are out. http://www.americanlawyer.com/amlaw100/

jones day remained steady at 3rd place with revenues up to $908,000,000 which is a lot of billable hours.

squire climbed up two places to 41st place, revenues up to $364,500,000.

baker climbed three places to 75th, revenues up to $229,500,000.

apparently those are the only ohio firms left in the amlaw 100.

mnd

[andViolins]

Law.com article about Arter & Hadden:

"Arter & Hadden Staff Told Closure Is Imminent"

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1056139916197

aV

To the Arter & Hadden employees:

We know you folks are feeling some degree of shock, but you need to gather your wits and act quickly. Here are a few tips from those who know what you're going through and what you might have to go through.

1. Deal with your medical coverage immediately! If your firm is closing on the 15th, you'll likely not have coverage past the end of the month, and you probably won't have COBRA. A break in what the benefits folks call "continuity of coverage" can be financially and/or medically devastating.

2. Start collecting contact info asap. Over the next few months you're going to need all the info you can get. Ideally, one among you will set up an e-mail list, so that you can all share info, job leads, ask questions, etc. Though you're spread around the country, you're going to have many common issues and problems. You need to know how to reach each other.

3. I assume A&H had some kind of 401K plan. If you were a participant, get cracking on it right away. Once a plan is headed for termination, everything gets really complicated. One, you might not be able to get your funds out as quickly as you'd like. You might not be able to count on living on those funds. And, there are big tax consequences to taking a distribution rather than rolling over into another qualified plan. If you've got a loan against your 401K account, you might be forced to pay it off or have it counted as a distribution. We don't want to scare you, but you need to deal with this immediately.

4. Just because you've given years of loyal service to the partners of A&H, don't assume that they will treat you fairly or look out for your best interests. If they do, great. But, don't count on it, and don't hold your breath waiting for them to take care of you, tell you the truth, act honorably, etc. Press for straight answers about all your issues right now: medical benefits, vested pto/vacation, retirement plan, reimbursement of expenses, severance (although it looks like they're not planning on paying you any), references, etc. Are they going to file for bankruptcy or not? You need to know how they plan on handling their wind down, closure, whatever they're going to call it. You need to know who will be authorized to deal with questions and problems after July 15th. If you don't get the answers/info you need, then think very seriously about getting legal help immediately. Yes, I know they were a swell bunch to work for, but the odds say they're going to become a bunch of greedy, arrogant weasels, and they're going to put their own interests way ahead of being fair to you. If you think it can't happen, check out Susan Beck's article, Getting the Boot, in the May American Lawyer.


5. Especially because of 4. above, keep your dignity and your humanity by caring about, reaching out to, and lending moral support to your colleagues. They will be a great source of strength to you, as you will be to them.

Know that the community of former Brobeck employees wish you all the best.

[andViolins]

From the 7/2/03 Plain Dealer.

"Arter is said to be looking at dissolving or merging"

http://www.cleveland.com/business/pl...8285196640.xml

aV

[andViolins]

From 7.3.03 Plain Dealer

"Arter & Hadden files WARN notice"

http://www.cleveland.com/business/pl...9701165780.xml

Now, normally WARN requires an employer to give its employees 60 days notice prior to the business closing, but there are exceptions for a faltering company. Language from the Department of Labor specifically states:

(1) Faltering company. This exception, to be narrowly construed, covers situations where a company has sought new capital or business in order to stay open and where giving notice would ruin the opportunity to get the new capital or business, and applies only to plant closings;

http://www.doleta.gov/programs/factsht/warn.htm

Based upon the memo sent to employees with the following language:

"As many of you know, we had been negotiating with our lenders in an effort to obtain additional capital as well as with our landlords. We believed that we had a realistic opportunity to obtain rent concessions and the additional funding that would have been sufficient to permit Arter & Hadden to continue to operate going forward. However, due to the sensitivity of the negotiations, we believed that giving notice sooner may have put the discussions at risk, and eliminated any chance to restructure our debt and continue operations. Accordingly, we are giving you as much notice as is practicable under the circumstances."

the employees will not receive the full 60 days wages and will instead only receive pay until July 15.

aV

[andViolins]

Article in the 7.9.03 Plain Dealer:


"New, smaller law firm is being created from Arter & Hadden ashes"

Don't expect to see a line of attorneys in pinstriped suits standing in the unemployment line next week after Arter & Hadden closes its doors.

From Arter's ashes will emerge a new corporate firm called Tucker, Ellis & West, which will open next Wednesday - the day after Arter ceases to exist, according to a statement issued yesterday.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/pl...4360992210.xml

The article does not say what will happen to the A&H offices that will not become a part of Tucker, Ellis (like Columbus)

aV

[ms. naughty diplomat]

Originally posted by andViolins

The article does not say what will happen to the A&H offices that will not become a part of Tucker, Ellis (like Columbus)

interesting that they are keeping the l.a. and san francisco offices. are they going to be consolidating the other southern california offices into one? they had a couple of other offices in the l.a. area - in theory they could turn three offices into one.

incidentially, did arter do any work on the ltv bankruptcy where ltv ceased to exist and then all of their remaining steelmills became part of a "new" company to avoid their pension obligations? it seems like they were inspired by that idea if nothing else.

mnd

[andViolins]

The following article was posted on the "other" Ohio Board. I have not verified the accuracy of the post:

'New' firm will be ninth largest in city, Bailey Cavalieri officials say

Daily Reporter
07/11/2003

In a time of ever-increasing unemployment rates, it could prove devastating for professionals to hear of their employer's dissolution. But for 45 attorneys, most working in downtown Columbus, the presented lemons elicited a response that would make Forrest Gump proud.

On July 16, the former attorneys for the Columbus office of Arter & Hadden LLP will open Bailey Cavalieri LLC at the One Columbus Building on West Broad Street. The "new" firm will employ 45 attorneys and 35 administrative staff members, making it one of the 10 largest in the city, according to company officials.

Arter & Hadden announced recently that the firm, which traced its roots back more than a century and a half, would dissolve. The news was less than shocking for firm insiders, as evidenced by the formation, within one week of the announcement, of a new law firm.

"We were informally making plans," said Michael Mahoney, managing partner of Bailey Cavalieri, a position he held for the Columbus office of Arter & Hadden until recently.

Already, Bailey & Cavalieri count Provident Bank, Abercrombie & Fitch and Mt. Carmel Hospital as select clients, and Mahoney said most of Arter & Hadden's local clients would stay with the new firm.

"Our clients told us they hire lawyers, not law firms," Mahoney said.

While leaving behind colleagues from Arter & Hadden's old offices throughout the country, Mahoney said the firm should find it new name, and the control that comes with it, welcome.

"We are completely in control of our own destiny," he said.

The firm took its name from two principals, Dan Bailey and Nick Cavalieri, a former Columbus Bar Association president. In addition to Bailey, Cavalieri and Mahoney, Dan Cvetanovich and James Ryan will serve the management committee.

In addition to competing with large Columbus firms for clients, Mahoney said the new firm would be able to compete for the area's top law school graduates each year due to the local control.

"We have been reluctant recruiters," he said, pointing to the financial troubles Arter & Hadden had experienced in the year leading up to dissolution.

While the firm also will count the former Dayton office of Arter & Hadden as part of Bailey Cavalieri, Mahoney said no plans exist for a larger expansion anytime soon.

"We always worked closely with the Dayton office," he said, adding that while profitable, the small Dayton office could not exist as a freestanding law firm.

Before the firm considers any new markets, which Mahoney said was not on anybody's radar screen, the firm will embark on a branding campaign.

"Obviously, Arter & Hadden was branded for around 160 years or something," he said of the firm founded in 1843.

But the firm, with offices in Washington, D.C., Dallas and throughout California, in addition to the three Ohio locations, will close for business July 15, after a recent vote by partners to dissolve. Firm officials cited overhead and unfavorable rent agreements as leading to the decision to disband.

But Mahoney laughed when asked if previous experience would dissuade officials at the new firm from expanding. "We need to get our feet on the ground," he said.

The day after Arter & Hadden closes shop, Bailey Cavalieri plans to be there, in the same downtown offices.

"We are really happy we are all staying together," Mahoney said.


aV

[andViolins]

The Arter & Hadden website is now down. However Tucker, Ellis & West has a website that is up and running.

http://www.tuckerellis.com/

It isn't much yet. Most of the pages are "under construction."

aV

[andViolins]

There is also a new website for the former Columbus (and Dayton) Arter & Hadden Office:

http://www.baileycavalieri.com/

aV

[ms. naughty diplomat]

Originally posted by andViolins
The Arter & Hadden website is now down. However Tucker, Ellis & West has a website that is up and running.

http://www.tuckerellis.com/

It isn't much yet. Most of the pages are "under construction."

aV

i find it kind of cute that they already have a page for "recruiting."

of course, its "under construction."

:what?: :disbelief

ms. naughty diplomat