Heller Ehrman
Heller Ehrman LLP was an international law firm of more than 730 attorneys in 15 offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Heller Ehrman was founded in San Francisco in 1890 and had additional offices located in most of the major financial centers around the world including New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore.
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
|---|---|
| No. of offices | 13 |
| No. of attorneys | 730 |
| Major practice areas | General practice |
| Revenue | $507 million USD (2006) |
| Date founded | 1890 |
| Company type | Limited Liability Partnership |
| Dissolved | November 28, 2008 |
| Website | www.hellerehrman.com |
In September 2008, the firm encountered troubles after losing 15 intellectual property (IP) partners to Covington & Burling, which led to the collapse of merger talks with Mayer Brown on 14 September 2008. Including the above 15, a total of 50 partners had left the firm in 2008. One anonymous legal market expert said the exit of the IP partners could constitute a default in Heller’s line of credit with its bank, effectively triggering liquidation.
On September 25, 2008, the firm confirmed its dissolution would occur on November 28, 2008. The firm filed a voluntary petition for chapter 11 bankruptcy for protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California on December 28, 2008.
Following the firm's bankruptcy, the firm's trustee had a dispute with the firm's former partners as to whether the firm or the individual partners are entitled to revenue from client matters pending at the time of bankruptcy. The dispute reached the California Supreme Court in 2016.