Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Encyclopedia
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
.
, 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.
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.
Pillsbury also formed an affiliation with United Arab Emirates firm Agha & Shamsi LLC in January 2009.
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". 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 fund
s. 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. Sequential conflict disclosure misconduct in the SONICblue bankruptcy case has escalated the possible consequences to Pillsbury. 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 and is seeking $30 Million in damages from Pillsbury Winthrop and associated parties on the official creditors committee as well as their counsel.
reported that "His dismissal has become something of a cause celebre in the San Francisco legal community." By April 2007, over $230,000 had been gathered for Macy. Macy died in his sleep on February 2008.
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. 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.
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
with strengths in the energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
, financial services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...
, real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
sectors and offices located throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the world, including key financial centers such as New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
.
History
Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro was established in San Francisco following the California Gold RushCalifornia Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, helping to create such giants as Chevron
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
and Pacific Bell
Pacific Bell
The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company was the name of the Bell System's telephone operations in California. It gained in size by acquiring smaller telephone companies along the Pacific coast, such as Sunset Telephone & Telegraph in 1917...
, now known as AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
. 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
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
laureate Elihu Root
Elihu Root
Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...
.) This merger resulted in the firm's name of Pillsbury Winthrop.
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.
Offices
Pillsbury currently has 14 offices worldwide in:- Houston
- LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
- Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
- New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
- NorthernNorthern VirginiaNorthern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
(Tysons CornerTysons Corner, VirginiaTysons Corner is an unincorporated census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Part of the Washington Metropolitan Area located in Northern Virginia, Tysons Corner lies between the community of McLean and the town of Vienna along the Capital Beltway . The population was...
)
- Orange CountyOrange County, CaliforniaOrange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
- SacramentoSacramentoSacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
- San Diego
- San Diego - North CountyNorth San Diego County, CaliforniaNorth County is a region in the northern area of San Diego County, California. It is the second most populous region in the county after San Diego, with an estimated population of 826,985. North County is well known for its affluence, especially in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Carlsbad, Del Mar, Rancho...
- San Francisco
- ShanghaiShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
- Silicon ValleySilicon ValleySilicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
- TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
- Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Pillsbury also formed an affiliation with United Arab Emirates firm Agha & Shamsi LLC in January 2009.
Notable Work
- As Guantanamo Bay attorneysGuantanamo Bay attorneysThe Center for Constitutional Rights has coordinated efforts by American lawyers to handle the habeas corpus, and other legal appeals, of several hundred of the Guantanamo detainees....
, lead counsel on Al Odah v. United StatesAl Odah v. United StatesAl Odah v. United States is a court case filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and co-counsels challenging the legality of the continued detention, without charge, of Guantanamo detainees. The case is in many ways a continuation of the landmark Center for Constitutional Rights case Rasul v....
, 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.
- 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.
Awards and recognition
- Named 2010 Best Investor Counsel of the Year in China at the 2010 TopCapital Investment and Investor Awards.
- Recognized by Working Mother magazine as one of the 2009 Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women
- Named Best Government Affairs/Regulatory Law Firm of the Year at the 2009 International Legal Alliance Summit & Awards in Paris
- 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
- 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 interestConflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
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". 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
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
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
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
involving a number of hedge fund
Hedge fund
A hedge fund is a private pool of capital actively managed by an investment adviser. Hedge funds are only open for investment to a limited number of accredited or qualified investors who meet criteria set by regulators. These investors can be institutions, such as pension funds, university...
s. 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. Sequential conflict disclosure misconduct in the SONICblue bankruptcy case has escalated the possible consequences to Pillsbury. 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 and is seeking $30 Million in damages from Pillsbury Winthrop and associated parties on the official creditors committee as well as their counsel.
Layoffs
In April 2006, Pillsbury had a round of layoffs. These layoffs were in connection with the merger with Shaw Pitman in April 2005. The layoffs included its unofficial mascot, Martin Macy. 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. At the time, the combined revenue for the partners at the firm had dropped from $780,000 to $760,000 and the firm's assets were over $6 million. 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. The San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
reported that "His dismissal has become something of a cause celebre in the San Francisco legal community." By April 2007, over $230,000 had been gathered for Macy. Macy died in his sleep on February 2008.
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. 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.