When San Francisco-based law firm Thelen abruptly shut its doors in December 2008, the legal world was shocked. The firm was more than 80 years old and employed about 400 lawyers in offices in Washington, D.C., Shanghai, New York and other cities around the world.
But no one was more shocked than the newly out-of-work associates at the firm, who allege they had little notice before Thelen shut down. A group of lawyers and staff sued, alleging that the firm violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, commonly known as WARN.
