Law Soc to help Dewey trainees find new firms
updated on 10 May 2012
The Law Society has announced that it will attempt to find new firms for trainees at Dewey & LeBoeuf, which is considering scrapping its UK operations amidst a stream of departures. As reported in Legal Week, Dewey is witnessing large numbers of partners depart from all its major offices, including London, Abu Dhabi, Washington DC and New York.
Dewey's London office currently employs 20 trainees, with seven more due to join in September 2012 and a further four in March 2013. A Dewey spokesperson revealed that these future intakes have not yet been cancelled despite the raft of departures and potential UK wind-down, further fuelling the uncertainty around the firm and putting the trainees in a less-than-ideal position.
The Law Society has therefore announced that it will encourage other City law firms to find training places for Dewey's current and future trainees, hoping to draw on experience from the administration of Halliwells in 2010 which subsequently saw around 30 firms agree to a scheme to find new places for affected trainees.
A Law Society spokesperson said: "In the case of a wind-down, our intention is to replicate what we did when Halliwells went into administration. Where possible we will work with and encourage other firms to help find current and future trainees other firms at which to complete their training."
