Since February, five shareholders have left the Florida offfices of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. These partners have raised issues about the firm’s centralized control and what they see as lack of support for their practices. The Cleveland-based firm merged with South Florida’s Steel Hector & Davis in 2005, despite that firm’s financial troubles and partner defections. The attorneys who left the firm claimed that they had wanted to continue work with the newly merged firm, but after a year and a half dealing with unresolved cultural and integration issues, they decided to part ways. Former Steel Hector managing partner Joseph P. Klock, corporate attorney Barry A. Weiss, and lobbyist Jorge Luis Lopez are among those who left. Squire Sanders is recognized for its bond work on behalf of government entities; it was ranked 54 on the AmLaw 100 listing of the nation’s top-grossing firms.
Source: www.law.com