Pushing or Jumping from Howrey?

Compliments of aptly named tipster, “Howrey Doin,” we came across this piece in the Washingtonian describing the recent turmoil at Howrey.

It’s no secret that the firm has been planning to “trim the fat.”

Everyone knows that people have left, but there’s some dispute about why. Over the past year, 20 to 25 partners across the firm were told their practices were no longer a good fit. Howrey’s managing partner, Robert Ruyak, says the recent moves out of the Washington office were part of this strategic trimming.

Some of those departures disagree with that characterization.

Details after the jump.

First, who are we talking about?

Washington defections include Matthew Moore to Latham & Watkins, Helen Michael and Jeffrey Lenser to Kilpatrick Stockton, Peter Unger to Arent Fox, and Eric Fingerhut to Dykema.

And they resent any implication that they’ve been forced out (which is the partner equivalent of one of the things we don’t like about covert layoffs, as opposed to traditional stealth layoffs).

Not so, say some of the lawyers. Lenser, who spent 18 years at Howrey, says he’s “disappointed” to hear Ruyak’s version of the situation. “[Helen and I] were introduced to Kilpatrick Stockton over a year and a half ago, and the decision to leave Howrey was our own.”

He’s not the only one.

One of the latest to depart was Cono Carrano, who landed at Akin Gump. Ruyak didn’t respond to requests for comment on the move, but Carrano says he left on his own and that a friend at Akin had been trying to lure him there for years.

Recruiters tell a similar tale, different from Ruyak’s.  According to them, everyone who’s not lashed to the mast is looking to jump ship.

Local legal recruiters are fielding plenty of calls from Howrey attorneys. “Unless you have these humongous cases that just can’t be moved, you’re looking,” says one. He adds that Howrey’s receptionists have caught on and are now screening calls from recruiters: “It’s like they built a fortress around there.”

Really?  Receptionists are screening calls?

For those receptionists reading this, we have some better advice: if the lawyers you’re working for are trying to find a better opportunity, your best advice is to do everything you can to help them.

Maybe they’ll take you with them.

Tagged as: howrey, laterals