Discussion of Firms and Life in SF/SV

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Associate-No-More
It looks like the whole infirmation board is now. No postings since April 28.

But it really died when we left.

There has not been a post on any infirmation.com board since April 28.

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
I merged the Nossman thread with this one. Come on, someone must know something. Pipe up, y'all.

Sorry, not really familiar with them. They have a land use practice though. I don't think there's anything special, or anything wrong with them.

Perhaps the litigators could speak up, as I've never come across them in the corporate arena.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
I don't think there's anything special, or anything wrong with them.

Nothing special about them? Have you read their website? Don't you realize that THREE Bay Area freeways are named after Nossaman partners!?!?

A(personal peeve: public property should never be named in honor of living persons --- this is America, dammit)G

[Seven of Nine]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
Don't you realize that THREE Bay Area freeways are named after Nossaman partners!?!?

A dubious distinction indeed.

Speaking of which, I always wonder how could John Daly possibly have been great enough to merit all of the stuff named after him? Heck, there are more Daly Boulevards in SF than Kennedy Streets in all of Massachusetts!

Seven

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
Nothing special about them? Have you read their website? Don't you realize that THREE Bay Area freeways are named after Nossaman partners!?!?

A(personal peeve: public property should never be named in honor of living persons --- this is America, dammit)G

I stand corrected. I also wonder if these lawyers lobbied to get the freeways named after them, because I'm not aware of anything spectacular that they've done. I agree AG, things shouldn't be named after living people.

Getting the Boot
Brobeck partners left their staff jobless, in a 401(k) mess and an insurance
quagmire, and without info. See ya!

Susan Beck
The American Lawyer
05-01-2003

Beth Harwood is a single mother who can't afford health insurance for her
13-year-old daughter. "I'm living off my nest egg, and I'm beginning to see
the bottom of the nest, and it's scary," says Harwood. J. Bryan Connaughton
is out of work, has no health insurance, and couldn't afford to go to his
brother's out-of-town wedding. "I'm stressed out, my wife's stressed out.
It's bad," he says. Lynn Cleckler, who suffers from a serious eye disease,
has no health insurance, and her husband is a diabetic whose medicine costs
$500 a month. She also just lost her job: "This really set us back. It's
like a blow, like a train wreck."

These are just three of the hundreds of former staff workers at Brobeck,
Phleger & Harrison whose lives have been upended in the wake of the San
Francisco firm's collapse.

To be sure, Brobeck's partners have suffered financially, losing in the
aggregate millions of dollars in capital. But the staff -- arguably the
least at fault for Brobeck's problems and the most vulnerable -- have fared
worse. Nearly all of Brobeck's partners landed at other firms in a matter of
weeks. But many of the firm's document processors, computer technicians, and
secretaries haven't been so lucky.

It's difficult enough that they were abruptly let go in a cruel job market
without a penny of severance pay. But in the chaos of Brobeck's abrupt
collapse, their problems have been exacerbated through a series of errors,
oversights, or perhaps just plain stinginess, leaving many frightened and
bitter. Particularly troubling, their 401(k) funds have been frozen, leaving
many without access to emergency savings.

What's left of management at Brobeck acknowledges the staff's difficult
plight, but offers little in the way of immediate relief. "I have no doubt
people are totally confused," says Stephen Snyder, the former Brobeck
chairman who heads the firm's liquidation committee. Snyder, who was not
involved in management in recent years, says his small team is still trying
to sort out details relating to various benefits, and is doing the best it
can with limited resources and severe spending restrictions imposed by
Citibank, N.A. "I'm here working on the problem, and I'm not going anywhere
until it's solved," says Snyder, who headed Brobeck in 1996 and 1997.

When staffers were shocked by the news of Brobeck's closure in late January,
then-chairman Richard Odom offered words of comfort. "I pledge to you that
we will do our best to get through [this time] -- and to help you get
through it -- with as much dignity and sympathy as possible," he wrote in a
January 31 memo.

But in the months since, many ex-Brobeck staffers have felt their dignity
eroded and seen few signs of sympathy from the firm. In interviews with 16
workers, every one expressed frustration at the absence of communication and
support from Brobeck as they've scrambled to find information about health
insurance, 401(k) money, and other benefits.

For many, the only source of information has been an e-mail network run by
Jim Lewis, who coordinated computer training at Brobeck. From his modest
apartment on the edge of San Francisco's Mission District, his computer
squeezed next to his refrigerator, Lewis has spent his days since January
passing along useful information to the nearly 300 staff and roughly 115
associates on his list. Lewis, who has taken on this role at his own
expense, says he's received well over 2,000 e-mails since then. "The lack of
communication [from Brobeck] has been awesome," says Lewis. "I've gotten
e-mails from some frantic coworkers."

"Without Jim Lewis we all would have been totally set loose with no life
preservers," says David Liebendorfer, who worked at Brobeck for 16 years as
a document processor and is now unemployed. "I have pored over every e-mail
seeking some solace and information."

There's no estimate of how many former Brobeck staffers are still jobless.
At the end, the firm employed roughly 600. Some got employed at firms like
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, but the firm won't say how many it took on board.
Many others have been unable to find work.

In early April, Lewis's network was buzzing with complaints about the
workers' 401(k) plans. When desperate ex-Brobeckers tried to withdraw money
from those accounts to pay bills, they discovered their accounts were
frozen. They also found out that Brobeck had failed to pay the plan's
administrative fees for the last three quarters of 2002. To their dismay,
they learned that those unpaid fees would be deducted from their accounts.
At press time their money was still locked up.

Snyder says the 401(k) situation has been complicated by the resignation of
the plan's trustee, UMB Bank, N.A. He says he's not sure why UMB resigned.
UMB vice president Larry Rudawsky said the bank could not discuss the
Brobeck plan without the client's written consent, which Snyder said he
couldn't provide. Still, Rudawsky noted, "it's a bad situation for Brobeck's
former employees. ... I could understand why [they'd] be frightened and
upset." In early April, Brobeck's liquidation committee released a memo to
ex-employees that summarized some aspects of the 401(k) plan, although it
couldn't tell them when they'd get their money.

Whatever the reason for the freezing of accounts, Brobeck's staffers have
suffered. "I'm in danger of losing my home, because we can't afford the
mortgage," says Kathy Wood, a former document processor at Brobeck who needs
to tap her 401(k) funds for living expenses. Wood, who gave birth in March,
says she'll have to go back on the job market much sooner than she planned.

Making matters worse, many have been panicked about their health insurance.
Workers have received mixed and confusing signals about whether they're
covered under COBRA and how long that coverage will last. (COBRA, the
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, gives certain workers the
right to temporary continuation of health coverage at group rates, paid by
the worker.)

With former colleagues desperate for information, Lewis and a few others
have researched insurance issues and posted updates on the e-mail network.
Snyder says it's the responsibility of the health insurers, not Brobeck, to
communicate with participants. He admits that he's been frustrated about
health benefits, too. "I understand it's difficult to take a 20,000-foot
view when the pharmacy won't give you drugs," says the ex-chairman. "I
understand everybody's angry."

More than 30 Brobeck staffers, including Lewis, have vented that anger by
taking legal action. In mid-March they filed a state court class action in
San Francisco against Brobeck, alleging violations of a California law that
requires employers to give workers 60 days' notice before a mass layoff.
Seeking compensation for two months' pay and benefits, the suit also targets
Morgan Lewis as the alleged "successor-in-interest" to Brobeck. The
plaintiffs claim there was "an interrelation of operations, common
management, and ... common ownership" of the two firms. Brobeck collapsed in
the wake of failed merger discussions with Morgan Lewis, which quickly
picked up more than 150 Brobeck lawyers. Morgan Lewis declined to comment.
Former chairman Odom, now a partner at Morgan Lewis, also declined to
comment about the staff's problems.

Some of Brobeck's ex-workers are trying other avenues for relief.
Connaughton, a former information technology manager at Brobeck, is so
frustrated at the 401(k) debacle that he's written his congressman. And he
is furious at Brobeck's partners: "The partners paid themselves half a
million bucks apiece, but they did not pay the administrative fees of the
401(k) plan. ... They're sitting fine and happy in their houses. They're not
worried about how they will eat next week."

Class Warfare @ Brobeck.com

The American Lawyer
05-01-2003

Ex-Brobeck employees have used their e-mail network for more than updating
each other on their curtailed benefits. Here is one fiery exchange that took
place in late March:

Brobeck partner: I was just wondering which partners you feel have been
greedy and arrogant and have put their self-interest above others. I can
detail for you how much money I have lost and continue to lose over the
situation if you like. Who is the "they" you are talking about?


Jayne Loughry (former senior counsel, Brobeck): I do understand that you and
each of the other partners have lost money... . You, however, likely have
not lost everything. Some of your employees have. You have not missed
mortgage or car payments, employees have. You have not had to move in with
relatives, employees have.

If you or your [spouse] had cancer or another life-threatening illness, you
wouldn't have the added burden of not knowing whether you'll have any
medical coverage tomorrow, but right now your former employees have that
extra burden.

In total dollars, yes, you've lost more.

But, proportionately, relative to what you have and what the employees have,
the employees have lost far more than you have.

So, who should I have more empathy for, more concern for, you -- who might
not be able to buy another sports car this year -- or the employee who calls
in tears to tell me she's going to lose her house if the 401(k) accounts
aren't unfrozen by the end of next week?

It looks to me like infirmation.com may be deceased, though I can't find any news on it. The site has been dead for days, and now may not be accessible at all.

Anyone have any info? If so, please post it here.

If it's dead, I think we probably helped to kill it.

[AngryMulletMan]

Originally posted by HeadLight
If it's dead, I think we probably helped to kill it.

Censorship killed it, not us.

It's 11:30 and not one new post today. I'm not sure whether it has to do with the President being in town or people are trying to leave town early. This board is my only refuge from non-stop billing for the "man". Oh well, back to work.

Sorry Mullet, I guess you and I were on at the same time and you are right, censorship did kill that board. I go back to the Tucker Max era (summer associate gone bad) and it was fun while it lasted but I'm glad we have a new home.

P.S. If anyone is interested in what has happened to Tucker Max, you can find him and all his self appointed glory atwww.tuckermax.com

[c2ed]

Originally posted by legalbeagle
It's 11:30 and not one new post today. I'm not sure whether it has to do with the President being in town or people are trying to leave town early. This board is my only refuge from non-stop billing for the "man". Oh well, back to work.

Sometimes, it's just a slow news week.

That, and we're trying to get our work done so we can go catch the X-Men.

C(Jean Grey rules)deuced

[AngryMulletMan]

Originally posted by legalbeagle
Sorry Mullet, I guess you and I were on at the same time and you are right, censorship did kill that board. I go back to the Tucker Max era (summer associate gone bad) and it was fun while it lasted but I'm glad we have a new home.

P.S. If anyone is interested in what has happened to Tucker Max, you can find him and all his self appointed glory atwww.tuckermax.com

I hope that dude has one large trust fund because he's not ever going to get a job.

AMM

[Seven of Nine]

Well guys, we finally made it. Another week down and I'm ready to celebrate. So, to kick off the party, I think I'll listen to my favorite Strong Bad techno song:

Click here for the Strongbad Techno Song

Have a great weekend!

:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

Dance Dance Dance!

Seven