Heller Ehrman SF Holiday Get-Together Photos

Photos from the get-together at the Embarcadero Hyatt on December 17th have been posted over at the Heller Ehrman Alumni Group on Facebook.

Click the link below to view the photos if you are already a group member or request to join the group and you’ll have access to the photos.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=80889480065

 

Happy Holidays

With Hanukkah underway and Christmas coming up this week, I think it is time to start celebrating and spending time with family and friends.  Which means for me, and for you the reader, there won’t be much posting between now and next Monday, December 29th.  

News articles will be updated daily (although to be honest, the number of mentions of Heller in the news has dwindled greatly) and if something important happens (like we all get our accrued vacation checks in the mail or pigs begin to fly), it will be posted as soon as possible.

I’ll be here in Chicago trying to stay warm (it is -3 F right now with a -30 F wind chill) and spending time with my niece, nephew and in-laws as we hold our yearly celebrations.  Others of us will be traveling and if that’s the case, please stay safe and remember that patience rules – it is much better to get to your destination with grace and in one piece.

I’m going to avoid any witty surmising as to what kind of gifts certain people deserve this year – now is not the time nor the place.  This is a time of wonder and celebration of what has passed for all of us in 2008.  I wish everyone who was at Heller Erhman this year – from the Dissolution Committee members to the support staff – all the best and happy holidays. 

Ex-Heller SF Get Together – Was Larrabee There?

A group of almost 100 ex-Hellerites met up at the Hyatt Regency (Embarcadero) in San Francisco on Wednesday night and I am only getting information in dribs and drabs right now.

First, if there are photos and you’d like them placed here on Heller Highwater then email me at hellerdrone@gmail.com.  

Second, several people stated that Matt Larrabee actually had the chutzpah to show up.  Yes, granted, he is an ex-Hellerite like the rest of us but considering the fact that he was one of the major players in this tragedy you’d think he’d have the sense to stay away.

If this is the case, I would like to hear about any encounters, discussions, words traded with Mr. Larrabee and whether anyone actually confronted him on his actions and the actions of the rest of the Dissolution Committee.  I think followers of Heller Highwater would like to know as well.

Is Larrabee turning out to be our very own Blagojevich?  Does he just not get it like the rest of the D.C.? Or does he just think that the rules of common decency that apply to the rest of us mere mortals, just don’t apply to him?

Spreadin’ The Holiday Cheer

Oh the joys of visiting Above The Law and bravely reading through the comments on posts!  Usually I make through the first ten, scroll to the end of the comments, work my way up and even then my attention only lasts about 20 seconds due to the sophmoric content.

But I love it when comments come in from non-attorney staff and are spot on.  In a recent article on whether or not you should give a gift to your secretary (and if so, what item or value), there is this hidden gem:

“I hope all of you cheap bastards who don’t believe a hard-working secretary deserves at least a 5% bonus, whether you are partners or associates, all get herpes, you pass it on to your undersexed, tight-assed wives (or husbands), they divorce you, then you marry a younger spouse who gives you syphilis. Laywers are sometimes unjustifiably the most self-centered, greedy, and elitist people in this country. “

Ahhh, good times.  Good holiday times.

 

Is That Really The Best You Can Do?

If you haven’t yet read the article about unemployed Heller and Thelen attorneys in The National Law Journal, here’s a real gem from an anonymous member of the Dissolution Committee:

A member of Heller’s dissolution committee, who requested anonymity, confirmed that about 300 people, including lawyers and staff, remain on the job market. “These are really tough times, and we hope that people are landing on their feet. We know some people haven’t. We know that’s a tragedy, but that’s the best we can do.” 

Really?  Is that the best you can do is offer hope?  And exactly what kind of hope are you offering?

This shareholder has the utter gall to make a statement like that while he/she and 85% of the other attorneys have made some form of safe landing.  In my heart I truly believe a special place in Hell is being set aside for this person and the other players in this “tragedy.”

The holidays seasons must look bright and merry when you are looking down.  I can tell you personally that they don’t look so good when you are looking up.

Heller San Francisco Holiday Gathering

Granted this won’t be like the blow out parties that Heller Ehrman put on every January at either City Hall, the Steinhart Aquarium, the DeYoung Museum etc. but here is a neat event that Vern Nuanez is organizing for ex-Hellerites:

Heller Get-Together
Hyatt Regency Main Lobby
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
5:30 pm PST until you feel like going home . . .

“Are Your Holiday Cards Done Yet?”

If you worked as a secretary at Heller Ehrman you remember the big push by Marketing to get those holiday cards out to clients, etc.  And if you were a trainer or in IT you remember having to pull out all the stops to get people re-acclimated with Interface CRM to generate the labels etc.

Well,I’m  sorry to say that this is one last push for holiday cards but I promise this will be worth it.  

Send the members of the Dissolution Committee and other Heller Ehrman shareholders your sincerest holiday wishes if you are up to it, and you if can afford it.  When making out your holiday cards over the next few days, set aside a few for those people who’ve had the greatest impact on your holiday season this year.

Let them know that you were thinking of them and how nice it is that they’ve landed safely at another firm if that’s the case.  Make sure they know how their actions have impacted you and your family this holiday season.  Tell them about the lack of medical coverage, mention what you’ve had to do without since your termination, and fill them in on how it is to look for work in this economy.

Here is a short list of Dissolution Committee members and a few key players in Heller’s demise.  

 

Peter Benvenutti
Jones Day
555 California Street, 26th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104

Robert D. Framm
Covington & Burling LLP
One Front Street
San Francisco, CA 94111-5356

Robert T. Haslam
333 Twin Dolphin Drive
Suite 700
Redwood Shores, CA 94065-1418

Jonathan Hayden
Lovitt & Hannan, Inc.
900 Front Street, Suite 300
San Francisco 94111

Richard Holdrup
Heller Ehrman
333 Bush Street
San Francisco, CA 94104

Barry S. Levin
The Orrick Building
405 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-2669

Matt Larrabee
Dechert LLP
One Maritime Plaza
Suite 2300
San Francisco, CA 94111-3513

Lynn J. Loacker
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
1633 Broadway, 27th Floor
New York, New York 10019-6708

Brad Scott
Heller Ehrman
333 Bush Street
San Francisco, CA 94104

Paul Sugarman
Heller Ehrman
333 Bush Street
San Francisco, CA 94104