Dewey Files Lawsuit against Former Partners for $22 Million

Several of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP’s ex-international partners have been recent targets of a litigation in the now defunct firm’s bankruptcy litigation.

Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP’s trustee filed lawsuits recently in the Manhattan U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking $22 million in returns from the partners when the firm became bankrupt. The lawsuits were made against attorneys based in several countries: Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Germany, China, and Russia.

The 470 plus partners who were part in the deal --- which became a critical component on Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP’s Chapter 11 outline --- agreed to return a portion of their wages with one condition: protection from any Dewey-related liability in the future.

The latest batch of lawsuit consists of an attempt to take back $13.9 million from the firm’s former Saudi Arabia office head, Khalid Al-Thebity; $2.1 million from Beijing-based attorney, Dirk Walker; $2.1 million from Africa-based attorney Scott Brodsky; $1.7 million form Frankfurt-based Volker Holl; and $1.1 million from Moscow-based lawyer, Yulia Cherkassova.

Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP’s attorneys told the court this week of another liability source to be made against the ex-partners.