Dewey and LeBoeuf firm files for bankruptcy

Dewey & LeBoeuf Llp, the law firm that advised baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers Llc on its restructuring, filed its own bankruptcy after its chairman was ousted, almost all its partners quit and creditors began suing for unpaid bills.

Manhattan-based Dewey listed debt of $245 million and assets of $193 million in a Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

The firm, which had more than 1,300 attorneys in 12 countries after the 2007 merger of Dewey Ballantine Llp and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & McRae Llp, now has 150 employees in the U.S. to wind it down, Jonathan A. Mitchell, the firm's restructuring officer, said in court papers. Dewey will be liquidated, he said.

Dewey & LeBoeuf "was formed at the onset of one of the worst economic downturns in U.S. history," wrote Mitchell, who works for the restructuring adviser Zolfo Cooper Management Llc.

"These negative economic conditions, combined with the firm's rapid growth and partnership compensation arrangements, created a situation where the cash flow was insufficient to cover capital expenses and full compensation expectations." Dewey hired Togut, Segal & Segal Llp as bankruptcy counsel. It is closing offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Sao Paulo, London, Paris, Madrid, Frankfurt and Johannesburg. All U.S. offices have been closed or are closing. The firm is recovering equipment and artwork and securing client records, according to the filing.

Dewey's first court hearing occurred Tuesday afternoon before Judge Martin Glenn in Manhattan.

-- Bloomberg News