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Thelen Loses Peter Brown to Baker & Hostetler
Some former partners say the recent departures may have been the result of lowered expectations over finances and pay
The Recorder
April 30, 2008
It's a good thing they changed it to just Thelen.
Peter Brown -- the "Brown" in Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner -- will be leaving the firm's New York office for Baker & Hostetler. His move is the latest in a string of departures, particularly from the firm's office in New York, home to the legacy Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner firm. The Brown firm merged with San Francisco's Thelen Reid & Priest in December 2006.
Partners were notified of Brown's departure last week, firm co-chairman Julian Millstein confirmed. Though no date has been set, Millstein said, Brown will be leaving the firm in the near future.
"He's been my partner for 26 years, and we all have the utmost respect and affection for him," Millstein said, "and we wish him the best."
"Peter along with me and Richard [Raysman] really built Brown, Raysman and Millstein from three attorneys to over 200," Millstein added. "He's a builder ... and I think he'd like the opportunity to go and try and build again, and my sense is that's what he's going to try to be doing over at Baker & Hostetler."
Brown declined to comment.
Thelen has lost at least 56 attorneys since March 11, according to a comparison between past and current versions of the firm's Web site. On March 20, the firm laid off 26 associates. Eleven of those who have left were partners in the firm. At least four were practice heads and at least 33 were in the New York office. There are now 499 attorneys in the firm, according to the site.
Three practice heads and two associates left the firm's New York office early this week, and an eight-attorney labor and employment team left the New York office two weeks ago. Thelen's Web site describes the New York office as having "over 200 attorneys," although only 166 are listed.
"There have been a number of attorneys -- both partners and associates -- who have left for different reasons, and I think to some extent it's a normal shakeout of the merger," Millstein said.
Some former partners say the recent departures may have been the result of lowered expectations.
"They didn't do as well last year as they had anticipated," a former partner in New York said. The former partners said financial results fell short of projections last year.
According to ex-partners in New York and San Francisco, compensation was distributed differently -- at least initially -- to attorneys from the legacy Brown and legacy Thelen firms. A former Thelen partner specified that the point value for the former Brown lawyers was held to be temporarily lower than that of the Thelen lawyers.
"It's not true," Millstein said. While the firm would not provide specifics on compensation, co-chairman Stephen O'Neal gave some clarification.
"At the time of the merger, we agreed that certain expense obligations of legacy Brown Raysman, if not discharged prior to the merger, would be paid by the new firm in 2007 with a prearranged sharing ratio," O'Neal said, "such that the legacy Thelen Reid partners would bear legacy Brown Raysman expense obligations up to a threshold amount and, thereafter, legacy Brown Raysman partners would bear the excess if any in 2007."
Millstein acknowledged that there were costs associated with the merger.
"There were some extraordinary expenses of the merger that did go into the financials in '07 that reduced profits a bit, but I don't know the extent to which that affected people's views of leaving," Millstein said. But, he added, "all the merger expenses are behind us, and at this point the firm has controlled its expenses very well, and I think the result will be a very good 2008."
Some of the New York departures may have been the result of feeling ignored, said a former Thelen partner.
"[Some other] people here in New York felt that they ended up not having a lot of say in what was going on," said a partner, noting that such culture clashes occur often in mergers and were neither widespread or unique to Thelen.
"There was nonetheless still a feeling of togetherness, a good place to work, a lot of camaraderie," the partner said.
