Mayer Brown loses three partners as White & Case, Vinson swoop

Readers' comments (17)

• Anonymous | 15-Dec-2010 3:26 pm

  Interesting news - and a good move to stronger platforms for all three, most notably Henchie.

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• Berlusconi's buddy | 15-Dec-2010 3:38 pm

  White & Case have a better platform than Mayer Brown, and some good institutional relationships, but the leveraged market is still as dead as a dodo, so White & Case are taking a punt on hiring leveraged partners. It's optimistic move to say the least!

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• Trigger | 15-Dec-2010 4:34 pm

  It might be optimistic but after the year that practice has had you can understand them wanting to roll the dice.
  "He who dares, Rodders," as someone used to say

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• Anonymous | 15-Dec-2010 9:20 pm

  The very expensive Lev Fin team at MB is yet to close a deal, so the departure of their most expensive hires may come as sweet relief. What were they thinking leaving the safety of the MC for MB and all its troubles? Difficult to see the remaining LevFin team (made up of salaried partners and no rain makers) surviving much longer.

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• Anonymous | 15-Dec-2010 10:25 pm

  and what about the other partners heading out the door, watch this space but this ain't the end. Of course they bought the Corporate big boys back from PH so maybe they can cling on.

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• Boycie | 16-Dec-2010 1:10 am

  "This time next year they might be millionaires"...again. Guarantees are a wonderful thing. Good luck both!

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• Anonymous | 16-Dec-2010 10:31 am

  You reap what you sow. MB brought in a lot of expensive laterals on guaranteed financial packages over the past few years and few if any have delivered. Meanwhile a steady stream of home grown talent (Henchie being a prime example) has headed for the exit. MB is neither magic circle (or even silver circle) nor part of the global elite. It has become a transit lounge for opportunistic laterals keen to boost their pension pots for a year or two before moving on to pastures new.

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• Anonymous | 16-Dec-2010 10:52 am

  Anonymous - I think they had little choice in leaving the "safety of the MC". Once the market died it was impossible for them to stay given their high salaries and little return (note to future lawyers - law firms are equally as brutal as businesses in a recession!).
  MB were foolish to take them on and believe they wouldn't move on the moment a better platform came along. Saying that, I suspect this is as good a move for MB as it is for WC. At the end of the day, the real winners are the partners and of course their lucky headhunters!

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• Roger Mabbutt | 16-Dec-2010 3:44 pm

  One thing thats rather odd is that White Case still want to invest in this area, with such appalling low volumes and margins but maybe it made sense for the guys moving if their guarantee period at MB was running off (only conjecture).
  The really strange thing though is what possessed the two of the them to make the choice to leave the magic circle firms they had been at. Not just as they would have been kissing goodbye to huge salaries and a nice glide to retirement but also leaving the really stimulating, fun and congenial environmemts which especially Allen Overy's lev fin team is famous for. No good crying about it now but it does look like the wrong call. I noticed that an ex Allens lev fin partner who left around the same time as Jacky has just bee re-admiited as a senior partner, so maybe a retrun to the mothership could be next after Whites?

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• Anonymous | 17-Dec-2010 10:22 am

  jackie didn't leave A&O voluntarily, she left as part of the 9% partner reduction

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