Dewey & LeBoeuf‘s L. Charles Landgraf—the managing partner of the firm’s Washington, D.C., office and the sole remaining member of its seven-week-old office of the chairman—has joined Arnold & Porter.

In a press release issued Wednesday, Arnold & Porter said Landgraf has joined the firm as a D.C.–based partner and will lead the public policy practice along with current partner—and former U.S. congressman—Jim Turner.

As The Am Law Daily has previously reported, Landgraf was the last man standing in Dewey’s office of the chairman following the departures last week of bankruptcy partner Martin Bienenstock to Proskauer Rose, corporate cochair Richard Shutran to O’Melveny & Myers, and global litigation chair Jeffrey Kessler to Winston & Strawn. Earlier this week, bankruptcy heavyweight and Los Angeles office leader Bruce Bennett also joined the ranks of former Dewey leaders when he decamped to Jones Day.

Landgraf joined legacy firm LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae 34 years ago and practiced in D.C. and London (where he served as the firm’s managing partner) prior to the ill-fated 2007 merger with Dewey Ballantine that created Dewey & LeBoeuf. Over the years, Landgraf has represented such clients as Lloyd’s of London, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, and PartnerRe. He also regularly represents clients in the energy and real estate industries, including Broadwater Energy and World Trade Center Properties. “I’m thrilled about the new opportunities the firm presents for my practice,” Landgraf said in a statement included in the press release announcing his move to Arnold & Porter.

Landgraf’s departure further expands the management void at Dewey, whose remaining leaders—executive partner Stephen Horvath and general counsel Janis Meyer—will continue to try to wind down the firm’s operations outside of bankruptcy court.

Arnold & Porter’s hiring of Landgraf was just one of several announcements Wednesday involving Dewey refugees finding new professional homes.

The Am Law Daily reported two weeks ago that six unnamed partners would be accompanying Dewey vice-chair and M&A cochair Morton Pierce and corporate partner Denise Cerasini to White & Case. On Wednesday, White & Case confirmed that the six are M&A partners Michelle Rutta, Chang-Do Gong, Robert Chung, Brian Smarsh, and Bryan Luchs, and partner Gregory Owens, who is joining his new firm’s banking practice.

Others finding places to land over the past two days include New York–based tax controversy and litigation practice group chair—and executive committee member—Lawrence Hill, who told The Am Law Daily Wednesday that he is headed to Shearman & Sterling, and Christopher Clark, the former head of Dewey’s white-collar practice, who is joining Latham & Watkins‘s New York office as a litigation partner.

Also in New York, Sidley Austin has added Dewey partners Andrew Holland and Kirk Lipsey to its insurance and financial services group, while Dewey corporate partner John Fallon Jr. is headed to Kaye Scholer.

Across the country, San Francisco bankruptcy partner Paul Jasper started at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis on Tuesday. Earlier this year, Jasper took over for former Dewey bankruptcy partner Bennett Young (now with Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell) as chair of the unsecured creditors’ committee in the Howrey bankruptcy. Court filings show that Dewey is owed $571,348 in rent by the Howrey estate for space the firm sublet to Howrey in Palo Alto. Jasper told The Am Law Daily Wednesday that he could not comment on the effect his departure from Dewey will have on his role with the committee.

On a somewhat related note, D.C.–based Dewey antitrust partner Roxann Henry started work as a Morrison & Foerster partner Wednesday, along with a handful of former Dewey associates. Henry landed at Dewey last year after leaving Howrey and was soon followed by fellow antitrust partners Jacqueline Grise and M.J. Moltenbrey, and of counsel Mark Schechter. Those three attorneys have yet to announce their next destination. “We would have liked to stick together, but it didn’t work,” Henry told The Am Law Daily Wednesday.

Also in D.C., energy regulatory partner James Bowe Jr. is joining King & Spalding and litigation partner Jocelyn Bramble is headed to Duane Morris. And in Albany, corporate partner Brian FitzGerald—who represents energy, telecommunications, and water industry clients—is now with Cullen and Dykman.

Of the roughly 300 partners Dewey had when 2012 began, only about 60 have not yet moved to new firms. Many of the firm’s associates and staff, meanwhile, have already been let go. As a result, Greiner Consulting, a New York–based legal career consulting firm, is doing a bit of reverse pro bono work, offering 100 free hours of consulting, as well as a series of workshops on job search techniques, to any unemployed Dewey staff or lawyers in need of such help. Greiner, which counts dozens of Am Law firms among its clients, has a relationship with Dewey that dates back more than a decade to predecessor firm Dewey Ballantine. Company president Jennifer Greiner says her company felt “compelled” to offer its support given the situation at Dewey.

Finally, in what might be termed a sign of life after death, Dewey on Wednesday amended a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act notice filed with the New York State Department of Labor on May 8 to say that Tuesday was not in fact the “closing date” of the firm’s Manhattan headquarters as originally stated, but rather the office’s “layoff date.” The firm also said in the amended WARN notice that 433 employees would be affected by a “plant layoff,” as opposed to what was originally labeled a “conditional plant closing.” The firm amended the notice to reflect a total of 533 employees in the office.

It was unclear Wednesday who the 100 employees not immediately affected by the layoffs are. 


Sara Randazzo and Recorder reporter Petra Pasternak contributed to this story.