Editor’s note: This is the first part of a four-part feature that appears in the July/August issue of The American Lawyer, a Daily Report affiliate.
On Feb. 13, two dozen of the highest-compensated partners at Dewey & LeBoeuf gathered around a conference table at the firm’s offices in New York. The meeting had been called by Dewey chairman Steven Davis, who told them again that Dewey could not cover the roughly $250 million it owed partners in guaranteed compensation. The problem, he said, could only be fixed if concessions were made.