Did Big Law Learn Anything From the Demise of Dewey & LeBoeuf?

Maybe it’s not seared in your memory like the names Enron or Bernie Madoff. But in the rarefield world of Big Law, the ignominious end of Dewey & LeBoeuf was a traumatic event.

If you were following the news 10 years ago you might remember the death watch that surrounded the firm as partners steadily abandoned ship, culminating in bankruptcy and the largest law firm collapse in history.

Dewey’s demise had all the stuff of high drama: ambition, greed, and hubris—plus criminal indictments against the firm chair, chief financial officer, and executive director by an ambitious Manhattan DA. If there ...