Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Headquarters	New York, New York
No. of offices	14
No. of attorneys	approximately 750
Key people	James M. Rishwain, Jr., Firm Chair[1]
Date founded	1868
Company type	Limited liability partnership
Website
www.pillsburylaw.com

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is an international, full-service law firm with strengths in the energy, financial services, real estate and technology sectors and offices located throughout the United States and the world, including key financial centers such as New York, London, Tokyo and Shanghai.^[2]

History

Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro was established in San Francisco following the California Gold Rush, helping to create such giants as Chevron and Pacific Bell, now known as AT&T. The firm merged with Los Angeles-based Lillick & McHose in 1990, expanding its California presence, and in 1996 it merged with Washington DC-based Cushman Darby & Cushman, greatly expanding its presence on the East coast.

In 2001, the firm merged with Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts, which expanded the firm's New York office. (Stimson, Putnam & Roberts, the New York precursor to Winthrop, can trace itself back to 1868 by future Secretary of State and Nobel Peace laureate Elihu Root.) This merger resulted in the firm's name of Pillsbury Winthrop.^[3]

Pillsbury as it is established today is the product of a 2005 merger between Pillsbury Winthrop and DC-based Shaw Pittman, a 300-lawyer law firm with strengths in global sourcing, energy, real estate, technology and communications.^[3]

Offices

Pillsbury currently has 14 offices worldwide in:^[4]

Notable Work

• As Guantanamo Bay attorneys, lead counsel on Al Odah v. United States, one of the two lead cases arguing for the habeas corpus rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees. On June 12, 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that Guantanamo Bay detainees have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.
• Co-authored a key amicus brief on a pro bono basis on behalf of more than 60 Asian-American Bar Associations and community groups in California's historic same-sex marriage case. The California Supreme Court overturned California’s ban on gay marriages on May 15, stating that depriving gays and lesbians of the same rights as other citizens is unconstitutional.
• Advised WebEx on its IPO in 2000, and in its $3.2 billion acquisition by Cisco Systems.^[5]
• Achieved a number of “firsts” in a single $5 billion nuclear deal, when a Texas utility selected one of Pillsbury’s long-time clients as its supplier of leading-edge nuclear reactor technology: it was the client’s first deal in the U.S., the first time a Japanese company will lead an overseas nuclear contract, and the first time a Japanese-made reactor will be exported overseas. For more than a year, the firm helped this major Japanese company enter the U.S. market, with four offices working on regulatory, public policy, business planning, intellectual property, employment and transactional matters.

^[5]

Awards and recognition

• Named 2010 Best Investor Counsel of the Year in China at the 2010 TopCapital Investment and Investor Awards.^[6]
• Recognized by Working Mother magazine as one of the 2009 Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women ^[7]
• Named Best Government Affairs/Regulatory Law Firm of the Year at the 2009 International Legal Alliance Summit & Awards in Paris ^[8]
• 2009 Best Corporate Counsel of the Year in China according to Top Capital, for the firm's work in the private equity and venture capital sector ^[9]
• Asian-Counsel's 2008 UAE Energy Firm of the Year
• 2008 Black Book of Outsourcing's #1 Global Sourcing legal advisor
• Winner of a 2008 InnovAction Award from The College of Law Practice Management for its patented business process, ValueChain

Misconduct

Federal Judge found misconduct by a number of lawyers regarding the conflict of interest disclosure failures by Pillsbury Winthrop in the SONICblue bankruptcy case stating "The reorganization of SONICblue, Inc. has been tragically marred by the misdeeds of professionals".^[10] Pillsbury was forced to disgorge $10 Million in fees for filing a false affidavit and hiding their conflict of interest for the debtor in the bankruptcy case of SONICblue. The federal judge ordered the firm to step down citing the "complete breakdown of creditor confidence" due to the firm's failure to make a required disclosure of a conflict of interest involving a number of hedge funds. Counsel for the official creditors committee gave tacit approval of the conflict as neither law firm brought the matter to the attention of the court.^[11] Sequential conflict disclosure misconduct in the SONICblue bankruptcy case has escalated the possible consequences to Pillsbury.^[12] The lawyer representing the successor to SONICblue subsequently learned that in addition to the failure to disclose the conflict, the firm also failed to disclose their own withdrawal of funds from the Debtor during the pre-petition preference period and has petitioned the Federal Judge to refer the firm's responsible lawyers for criminal prosecution^[13] and is seeking $30 Million in damages from Pillsbury Winthrop and associated parties on the official creditors committee as well as their counsel.^[14][15]

Layoffs

In April 2006, Pillsbury had a round of layoffs. These layoffs were in connection with the merger with Shaw Pitman in April 2005.^[16] The layoffs included its unofficial mascot, Martin Macy.^[17] Macy, who had started with the firm at the age 17, had been in the San Francisco office for 41 years prior to his dismissal. He was terminated from his position as messenger to save his annual salary of $34,000.^[18] At the time, the combined revenue for the partners at the firm had dropped from $780,000 to $760,000 ^[19] and the firm's assets were over $6 million.^[20] To assist Macy, the legal community created a trust fund to which former co-workers, clients and other members of the legal community donated money.^[20] The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "His dismissal has become something of a cause celebre in the San Francisco legal community." ^[20] By April 2007, over $230,000 had been gathered for Macy.^[21] Macy died in his sleep on February 2008.^[22]

In February–March 2009, Pillsbury again conducted layoffs. The terminations gained early notoriety after being accidentally leaked by Bob Robbins, head of the firm's Corporate and Securities practice section.^[23][24] According to a tipster to AbovetheLaw.com, while on a train going from Washington DC to New York, Robbins was heard talking loudly on his cell phone about the upcoming layoffs. David Lat, using the assumed name Jennifer Everest, e-mailed Robbins and confirmed that he was on the train as reported. Soon after the story was posted on ATL the firm issued a statement confirming that Pillsbury would be reducing its workforce.

References

External links

• Official Firm Website
• LawPeriscope Profile