Dewey & LeBoeuf’s former New York landlord sued 450 former partners of the now-bankrupt firm in Manhattan Supreme Court Thursday, claiming the lawyers should be held responsible for debts left behind when Dewey collapsed in May 2012.
In its 17-page complaint—10 pages of which are filled with the defendants’ names—the landlord, 1301 Properties Owner, claims the former Dewey partners “are jointly and severally liable for all amounts that are due and will become due” under a lease for the firm’s midtown Manhattan headquarters at 1301 Avenue of the Americas that was initially intended to run until 2020. The landlord points to a clause in the lease, originally entered into by Dewey predecessor firm Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood in 1989, that holds each Dewey partner personally liable in the event of default.
