- founding partner Thomas Kummeris is resigning for a job at Greenberg Traurig
- Managing Partner Michael Bonner is also out the door and over to Greenberg Traurig
The Sun also reports that "[s]everal staffers, lawyers and partners, including Bonner, will leave the firm in June" to join Greenberg Traurig, "which already had about 30 lawyers in Nevada". (LV Sun). KKBRF will now be steered by partner Bob Gronauer, who will become managing partner.
Apparently the split happened due to partner disagreements that led to the failed KKBRF merger with Greenberg Traurig.
Update (5/29/09): The split appears to be over the scope of KKBRF's practice:
“Some partners believed it would be in their best interest to join a large international firm where they would be exposed to a variety of cases throughout the United States,” said Bob Gronauer, who will take over as managing partner of Kummer Kaempfer. “There’s another group of partners who are of the opinion that they would chose to continue to represent clients in Nevada and regionally as Kummer Kaempfer has always done.” (LV Sun)
I feel for the remaining support staff in the LV office. I know some of them and they are great assistants. Hope none of them were affected by this
ReplyDeleteWith Ferrario gone as well are they just going to be KR now?
ReplyDeleteFrom the KKBRF website:
ReplyDelete"Over the next 30 days, partners Tom Kummer, Mike Bonner, Mark Ferrario, John Brewer, John Jeppsen, Gregg Vermeys and Brandon Roos, along with several associates and support staff will transition their practices to Greenberg Traurig."
http://blog.kkbrf.com/archives/446
The amount of spin in that KKBRF (or I guess, KR) post is making me dizzy. Seriously, there is a point where companies try too hard in press releases. "We're not losing 80% of our named partners, we're 'streamlining' our business model." Give me a break.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the associates going over to GT know that it's GT's call if they get to stay or not. If GT only wants the books of business, they really don't need the manpower (at over $100k per) if they already have enough.
ReplyDeleteFor the associates headed to GT, the road to (a decade or more of non-equity) partnership will likely be much more difficult...
ReplyDeleteFrom the AmLaw Daily -- interesting non-confirmation from Greenberg Traurig and even more interesting headline, considering the fact that the remaining attorneys at Kummer Kaempfer are THE elite governmental affairs/lobbying firm in Nevada:
ReplyDeleteMay 20, 2009 6:28 PM
Greenberg Hires Large Group From Vegas FirmPosted by Nate Raymond
Updated on 5/20/2009 at 11:30 p.m. EST with a comment from Greenberg Traurig in the sixth paragraph.
A prominent Las Vegas-based law firm said Wednesday that Greenberg Traurig will inherit a large number of its partners and associates after months of negotiations to merge the two firms didn't pan out.
Kummer Kaempfer Bonner Renshaw & Ferrario said seven Las Vegas partners, along with several associates and staff members, would join Greenberg on June 1.
The workforce reduction was part of a firmwide restructuring brought on my the global economic crisis, said managing partner Bob Gronauer, who will remain a managing partner at Kummer Kaempfer.
"This was an extremely difficult decision and one that we hoped to avoid," Gronauer said in a statement. "However, in light of the new structure, it was a necessary step given the competitiveness of the new marketplace."
The recession has put pressure on Kummer Kaempfer, which laid off nine associates and seven staffers earlier this year, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The firm said today's departures follow "many months of careful thought and deliberations."
Greenberg Traurig would not confirm the additions Wednesday. "This is a great group of attorneys and staff," Mark Tratos, managing partner of Greenberg Traurig's Las Vegas office, said in a statement. "I am sure they will be a great asset anywhere they go."
Among those departing are Kummer Kaempfer's chairman Michael Bonner, name partners Thomas Kummer and Mark Ferrario, as well as partners John Brewer, John Jeppsen, Gregg Verneys and Brandon Roos.
"This is a difficult, but cordial decision that reflects the desires of certain practice groups in our firm to practice in an international firm," Bonner said in a statement. "We will continue to work together with our Kummer Kaempfer colleagues as co-counsel on many matters now and in the future."
Following the departures, Kaempfer Kaempfer will have 13 partners.
I don't know why anyone would work for a large firm in Vegas. I left one of them last year and went to a small firm. I can sleep at night because I know I'll have my job tomorrow. And the hours are much better.
ReplyDeleteGT is a bigger sweatshop than AT. That seems like a step in the wrong direction for the KK attorneys who are going there. It really must have been a bad situation at KK for alot of them to want to go to GT.
ReplyDeleteWell - I can think of a small difference between AT and GT - namely you make a ton of money at GT.
ReplyDeleteIs it worth the extra money to work at GT? If you exclude AT, I would say that I'd work for any other big firm over GT.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, what are the top 5 firms people would prefer to work at (i.e. best places to work in the valley)?
ReplyDelete2:27 PM
ReplyDeleteInteresting question - maybe a poll would be appropriate?
Who were the support staff that were just let go? I know many at KKBRF and most of them were completely expendable. Probably would be a better place to work at now - if the option arose in the future. Many attorneys/paralegals/secretaries and other support staff are completely useless. If they did go to GT and continue to be useless, they will be fired without questions because GT doesn't play around. If they stayed at KKBRF then it will remain a place that is a horrible environment for anyone that actually wants to go to work to WORK.
ReplyDeleteCouldnt agree with you more 4:20! I know of one person who worked with a "completely expendable" person side by side and not in the LV office and that person who was not expendable, was in total misery
ReplyDeleteI have seen fabulous people come and go from KKBRF because they were great and couldn't deal with the incompetence. They would rather lose good people then clean house. It's about time if they actually cleaned house for the better.
ReplyDeletetime will tell if they chose the "right" people (attorneys and support staff) to go to GT. i think there are a few individuals who will (a) not fit in to the GT culture, or (b) fall on their face because their incompetence will finally become apparent at GT. it will be fun to sit back and watch. got my popcorn.
ReplyDeleteThose who warn about the risks that associates going to GT face must not realize that those going have no choice.
ReplyDeleteOr rather, that the choice is go to GT, or just go.