April 23, 2012 1:43 PM
D.C. Dewey Partner Heads to Allen Overy
Posted by Sara Randazzo
The number of partners to depart Dewey LeBoeuf so far this year has officially hit 70.
The latest defector is Washington, D.C.–based project finance partner Gregory Smith, who is now with Allen Overy.
Smith represents clients in the development, financing, and privatization of infrastructure projects, particularly in emerging markets, according to a cached version of his Dewey Web site bio. A 1993 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, he is also an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School, the bio states.
Smith and Allen Overy U.S. managing partner Kevin O’Shea did not immediately return calls seeking comment Monday. A Dewey spokesman had no comment on Smith’s departure.
Smith appears to be the first Dewey partner this year to head to Allen Overy, which has offices in 27 countries, including U.S. offices in New York and D.C. The Magic Circle firm launched in D.C. last June with the addition of three O’Melveny Myers attorneys. At the time, O’Shea told sibling publication The National Law Journal that he envisioned the office giving Allen Overy U.S. expertise in intellectual property, Federal Communications Commission enforcement and litigation, antitrust, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act work.
News of Smith’s departure comes on the heels of a week that saw Dewey lose at least 14 partners, including a five-partner energy and infrastructure team to Hunton Williams in New York; a pair of corporate partners to Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in New York; four partners to Dechert in London and Dubai; and individual partners to Cozen O’Connor, Dorsey Whitney, and O’Melveny Myers.
At least six of the 70 partners to leave Dewey so far this year were based in D.C., including the former head of the office, Abraham Shashy, who went to King Spalding in early February. The office is now run by Charles Landgraf, a member of Dewey’s new five-pronged office of the chairman.
With partner losses mounting and questions swirling about its finances, Dewey is weighing various options for its future, with the filing of a so-called prepackaged bankruptcy reportedly under consideration. Greenberg Traurig, meanwhile, has confirmed that it has held preliminary talks about taking on an unspecified number of Dewey lawyers.
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