Like
proper
Jerry
Bruckheimer
action
stars,
David
Esseks
and
Eugene
Ingoglia
just
walked
out
of
A&O
Shearman
leaving
explosions
in
their
wake.
Esseks,
A&O
Shearman’s
co-head
of
investigations
&
white-collar,
will
join
Ingoglia
in
a
new
litigation
outfit,
Essecks
Ingoglia.
As
the
American
Lawyer
notes:
Esseks
and
Ingoglia
are
the
latest
partners
to
leave
A&O
Shearman,
which
has
experienced
fairly
consistent
departures
since
the
firm’s
merger
took
effect
in
May
2024.
Many,
but
not
all,
of
these
are
likely
to
be
connected
to
the
firm’s
plans,
reported
on
by
Law.com
in
September
2024,
to
cut
10%
of
its
equity
partnership.
Yeah,
that’s
one
theory.
The
merger
of
Allen
&
Overy
and
Shearman
&
Sterling
brought
a
lot
of
collateral
damage,
with
a
promised
10
percent
cut
to
the
equity
partner
ranks
and
some
59
partners
departing
since
then.
But
that’s
been
cooking
since
late
last
year
and
the
firm’s
co-head
of
white-collar
probably
wasn’t
on
the
chopping
block.
If
only
something
much
more
recently
transpired
that
might
convince
attorneys
to
cut
ties
with
the
firm…
Like,
committing
$125
million
in
pro
bono
legal
services
to
the
Trump
administration
amid
outright
revolt
from
rank-and-file
attorneys
who
put
together
an
open
letter
with
hundreds
of
signatures
begging
firm
leadership
not
to
cave.
Lawyers,
particularly
litigators
with
practices
based
on
constantly
opposing
the
federal
government,
face
serious
obstacles
living
under
a
deal
that
the
White
House
certainly
believes
commits
them
to
volunteer
their
services
directly
to
the
administration.
It’s
not
like
we
haven’t
already
seen
this
play
out
elsewhere.
Paul
Weiss
suffered
a
huge
litigation
loss
when
many
of
its
high-profile
litigators
pulled
up
stakes
to
form
Dunn
Isaacson
Rhee.
That
boutique
also
snagged
talent
from
another
Trump
collaborator
when
Meryl
Governski
left
Willkie
Farr.
Coincidentally,
while
we’ve
been
writing
about
Dunn
Isaacson
Rhee
for
a
while
now,
the
firm’s
official
launch
date
is…
today.
It’s
not
even
—
necessarily
—
political.
If
your
business
is
based
on
defending
your
clients
against
the
federal
government,
you
can’t
really
get
the
job
done
if
clients
think
your
firm
owes
the
government
favors
under
the
table
and
you
definitely
can’t
when
the
government
THINKS
SO
TOO.
Transactional
clients
might
enjoy
knowing
their
lawyers
have
a
cozy
relationship
with
regulators,
but
litigation
requires
the
freedom
to
tell
the
DOJ
to
pound
sand.
That’s
just
not
possible
when
the
White
House
thinks
they’ve
officially
deputized
the
firm.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.