The American Lawyer - February 2008

CADWALADER’S IP IPO
Morgan provides start-up capital.

THE “CONTINUED STRATEGIC REDEPLOYMENT” THAT

led Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft to lay off 35 lawyers in January can also claim as victim the New York intellectual property boutique Morgan & Finnegan. In four separate hirings since August 2007, Cadwalader nabbed seven partners from the IP shop to start its own IP practice.

IP is the latest practice to be targeted for growth by the 215-year-old Cadwalader, which is known for its capital markets strength and aggressive management. And apparently, the firm has found a wellspring in Morgan.

The moves began in August, when Christopher Hughes lateraled from Morgan to become Cadwalader’s head of IP. Two more Morgan lawyers joined Cadwalader as special counsel in September. Most recently, in December, the firm raided Morgan for Michael Dougherty, Tony Pezzano, and Bartholomew Verdirame (above). And in January, International Trade Commission specialist Kent Stevens made the leap. Cadwalader’s IP practice now numbers 30 attorneys, including at least one associate reshuffled from structured finance.

Verdirame specializes in pharmaceutical, chemical, and engineering patent litigation. He says that Cadwalader’s antitrust practice, as well as its specialists in health care and international law, could provide assistance for his pharmaceutical clients. “It was just a wonderful opportunity for me to take,” Verdirame says.

No doubt the new Cadwalader partners can look forward to nice paychecks as well: Cadwalader’s profits per partner were $2.9 million in 2006. But three of the recruits—Dougherty, Stevens, and John Moehringer—traded Morgan partnerships for special counsel status at Cadwalader. Hughes declined to discuss the decisions behind the title drops. “The folks who came over truly believe in the direction the firm is going and the support the firm is going to provide,” he says.

Morgan, meanwhile, has dropped from 37 partners in 2006 to 26 today, with partners and their associates jumping to Covington & Burling, Goodwin Procter, and King & Spalding. A former partner says management issues are to blame. Morgan senior partner John Sweeney, a member of the firm’s executive committee, says he was disappointed the partners left. “This is a fluid marketplace,” he says. At Morgan these days, though, it seems more like a tidal wave.