Lawsuit?

After reading some of your e-mails and posts on this site and Heller Highwater, I just wanted to start a discussion about a potential lawsuit, if anyone is still reading. I hope that any former incoming associates who wish to weigh in will be comfortable enough to post their thoughts in "comments" rather than sending me a private e-mail to help generate discussion.

I don't have much knowledge about class action lawsuits nor bankruptcy procedures, so I have some questions, both technical and personal. Excuse my technical ignorance, but I'm suffering a bit of Lexis withdrawal.

I'd especially like to hear from everyone about their thoughts on the personal questions.

Technical

1. Would a lawyer even accept our case pro bono?
2. If not, who among us can even afford a decent attorney?
   
3. Do we have enough people to even constitute a class?
4. Even if we did have a class action lawsuit, will there be anything left to sue for?
5. What priority will we have against other creditors and other tort plaintiffs?
   
6. Will only the named plaintiffs receive any real compensation?
7. Will the "real compensation" be even close to being "worth it"?
8. Do we have any real legal legs to stand on? Were the promised sums contingent and not guaranteed to start with?
9. If there is no contract case, what about detrimental reliance? But is detrimental reliance appropriate in a class action suit?
   

Personal

1. Would you rather spend your time job searching (or for some, working hard at the new job) instead of suing?
2. Would being an active plaintiff affect your life attitude (life meaning your life for the duration of the lawsuit)? If so, how so?
3. How do you think suing would affect your work reputation and future?
4. What factors make you want to sue and which make you hesitate?
5. Other concerns about a lawsuit?
   

Letter from Heller

As requested, click on the following image for the final letter from Heller.

They are very careful not to take any responsibility, as the letter is not signed by any individual.

Possibly the Last Post

It has been official for a bit now--Heller has written us and told us that it will not be reimbursing any of our expenses, nor paying our stipend. I was crossing my fingers and hoping for better, but the letter confirmed what I had always suspected would happen.

Certainly, I am not sure how I feel about the somewhat condescending advice that we should seek reimbursement from our new firms if we have new firms to go to--my first reaction was, "Oh, really?" If I could, I would. I am also puzzled that the letter referred to a phone call I don't remember having. I don't know about the rest of you, but I did not receive any phone calls or messages after Heller made its decision to dissolve. I was completely in the dark, and as I understand it, so were all of you.

Am I upset about all that has happened, especially how we were completely ignored until it was the scheduled date for our first stipend installment? Yes. Am I going to do anything about it, like sue Heller? I'm pretty focused on trying to find another job, or figuring out where to volunteer legally while I simultaneously work at McDonald's to pay the bills. I've received one e-mail asking whether I or anyone else has thought about suing, and while I may consider it, I certainly will not be the one leading the pack. I'm ill, and I'm exhausted.

Which brings me to this blog. I started this blog so that we could talk to each other; maybe a forum would have been a better idea to effect that goal. I always knew I could not handle this blog alone--I knew I would go crazy if I had to always think about Heller. I cannot handle feeling "negative" for long periods of time. However, no one I have asked has felt up to being a co-administrator of this blog, and believe me, I understand.

So I'm making this my last post, but I know that plenty of you still feel that this situation is unresolved, and I hope you feel comfortable using the comments space below to vent or comfort others or whatever you feel like doing. Anonymous comments are allowed on this blog, in case you haven't tried commenting before.

Again, I hope everyone the best, and that so many good things will happen to us in the future that we will have no choice but to put all of this behind us.

Signing out,
Heller No More

Please Comment

I will be out of town until this Thursday without access to the internet, so if you have any announcements you would like to share, please post in comments below.

Thanks and best of luck to all!

Did You Work with These Partners Last Summer?

*Updates will now show up in red text.

Who knows if any of them will be able to help us, but it still may be worth it to keep track of where they are going/have gone. I've tried to include all partners who have left since last summer, not just recent departures. I'll need some help with this, so if you have some information or corrections, please e-mail me at hellernomore@gmail.com or comment below. Thanks!

Anchorage (everyone to Stoel Rives)

Los Angeles

• Robert G. Badal (WilmerHale)
• Nancy Cohen (Proskauer Rose)
• Robert Hubbell (Gibson Dunn & Crutcher)
• Jerry Marks (Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy)
• Eric Shapland (Arnold & Porter)
• Rene Siemens (Proskauer Rose)
• Darryl Snider (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton)
• James Speyer (Arnold & Porter)
• John Ulin (Arnold & Porter)
  

Madison

• Timoth Burns (Perkins Coie)
• David Harth (Perkins Coie)
• David Jones (Perkins Coie)
• John Skilton (Perkins Coie)

New York

• Robert Buehler (Hogan & Hartson)
• Kevin T. Collins (Goodwin Procter)
• Stephen M. Davis (Goodwin Procter)
• Paul Downs (Jones Day)
  
• Michael Faber (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati)
• Wesley C. Fredericks (Goodwin Procter)
• Shon Glusky (Bingham McCutchen)
• Richard Goldstein (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Edward Joyce (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Kenneth Kirschner (Hogan & Hartson)
• Steven Koppel (Jones Day)
  
• Dick Martin (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Russell Reid (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton)
• Joshua Rosenkranz (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Carren Shulman (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton)
• Blaine Templeman (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton)
• Aviva Yakren (Jones Day)
  

San Diego

• Craig Andrews (DLA Piper)
• John Benassi (deceased) (Cooley Godward)
  
• Alan Blankenheimer (Covington & Burling)
• Ross Burningham (DLA Piper)
• Jo Dale Carothers (Covington & Burling)
• Chad Fuller (Foley & Lardner)
• Michael Kagnoff (DLA Piper)
• Kurt Kjelland (Foley & Lardner)
• David Kleinfeld (Foley & Lardner)
• Margaret Mann (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton)
• Laura Muschamp (Covington & Burling)
• Martin Nichols (DLA Piper)
• Kirt Shuldberg (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton)
• Dan Silverman (Foley & Lardner)
• Jeffrey Thacker (DLA Piper)
• Barry Tucker (Foley & Lardner)
• Jessica Wolff (Cooley Godward)
  

San Francisco

• Keith Betzina (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Stephen Bomse (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Laura Blum (Jones Day)
• David Brownstein (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Howard Caro (Hogan & Hartson)
  
• Brent Cohen (Jones Day)
• Karen Dempsey (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Richard DeNatale (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Megan Dixon (Hogan & Hartson)
  
• Robert Fram (Covington & Burling)
• Joanne Garvey (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton)
• Patricia Gillette (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Elizabeth Goldman (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• David Goldstein (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• David Goodwin (Covington & Burling)
• Christine Haskett (Covington & Burling)
• Peter Hecker (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton)
• Lawrence Hobel (Covington & Burling)
• Annette Hurst (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Charles Jaeger (Gibson Dunn & Crutcher)
• Carl Johnson (Luce Forward)
  
• Barry Levin (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Andrew Livingston (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Michael Markman (Covington & Burling)
• Anna McLean (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton)
• Martin Myers (Jones Day)
• Jessica Pers (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Michael Plimack (Covington & Burling)
• Larry Popofsky (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Neil Popovic (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton)
• Douglas Schwab (Hogan & Hartson)
• Michael Shepard (Hogan & Hartson)
  
• Patricia Thayer (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Dan Titelbaum (Luce Forward)
• Robert Rosenfeld (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Scott Westrich (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Jonathan Zhu (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati)

Seattle

• Bruce Bjerke (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Pamela Charles (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Matthew Cohen (Stoel Rives)
  
• Elizabeth Deckman (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Michael Dotten [starting own arbitration & mediation practice]
  
• Daniel Dunne (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Sonya Erickson (Cooley Godward)
• Alison Freeman-Gleason (Cooley Godward)
• Todd Glass (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati)
• George Greer (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• John Hanley (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Brian Hulse (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Kevin Kelly (Cooley Godward)
• Matt Le Master (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Scott MacCormack (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Brendan Mangan (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Leslie Nellermoe (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Angela Niemanm (Stoel Rives)
  
• Jonathan Palmer (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Mark Parris (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Ken Payson (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Don Percival (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• Lori Lynn Phillips (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Warren Rheaume (Davis Wright Tremaine)
• John Robertson (Cooley Godward)
• Bernie Russell (Davis Wright Tremaine)

Silicon Valley

• Paul Alexander (Howrey)
• Elias Blawie (Cooley Godward)
• Norman Blears (Hogan & Hartson)
  
• Andrew Byrnes (Covington & Burling)
• Michael Charlson (Hogan & Hartson)
  
• Renee Deming (Cooley Godward)
• Jon Gavenman (Cooley Godward)
• Steven R. Feldstein (Goodwin Procter)
  
• Robert Haslam (Covington & Burling)
• Robert Hawk (Hogan & Hartson)
  
• Mark Medearis (Cooley Godward)
• Keith Miller (Cooley Godward)
• Harold Milstein (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton)
• Amy Paye (Cooley Godward)
• John Sellers (Cooley Godward)
• Julian N. Stern (Goodwin Procter)
  
• Nitin Subhedar (Covington & Burling)
• Mark Weeks (Cooley Godward)
• Laurence Weiss (Hogan & Hartson)
  
• Mark Windfeld-Hansen (Cooley Godward)
• Mavis Yee (Cooley Godward)
• Stanley Young (Covington & Burling)

Washington, D.C.

• Geoffrey Aronow (Bingham McCutchen)
• Bernard Bell (Jones Day)
  
• Maureen Browne (Covington & Burling)
• Becky Bruner (Pillsbury Winthrop)
  
• Kenneth Chernof (Arnold & Porter)
  
• Johnny Chiu (Covington & Burling)
• Michael Cohen (Paul Hastings)
• Charles Curtis (Arnold & Porter)
• Joe Fagan (Pillsbury Winthrop)
• Edward Henneberry (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Jay Jurata (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• David Klein (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Natasha Leskovsek (Cooley Godward)
• Carl Nadler (Arnold & Porter)
• Mark Plumer (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• David Smutny (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Sturgis Sobin (Covington & Burling)

Asia

• Joseph Cha (Proskauer Rose)
• Ying Li (Proskauer Rose)
• Nick Seddon (Eversheds)

Europe

• Bob Asher (Goodwin Procter)
  
• Douglas Lahnborg (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)
• Brian Smith (Goodwin Procter)
  

Placement Opportunities

Heller Drone has informed me that the Placement Opportunities listing is now available online to everyone:

http://www.hellerehrman.com/en/

Thanks, HD, and good luck to all during these trying times.

Sorry About Lack of Posts

I am working hard on securing another job, and when I'm not, sometimes I succumb to depression--though I am fighting that!

If anyone has any news or updates, please feel free to post in the Comments section. If anyone wants administrative privileges to this blog and help out, just e-mail me at hellernomore@gmail.com with your gmail account name and I will add you as a contributor.

Of Interest Over at ATL

Heller's plan of dissolution: http://abovethelaw.com/_Plan%20of%20Dissolution.pdf

Rumor is that incoming associates in the Madison office are being taken care of by the partners there? If you can confirm, please do; thanks! http://abovethelaw.com/2008/10/anatomy_of_a_dissolution_why_b.php

If You Don't Mind Talking About This...

A writer for a reputable magazine in the legal field is looking for one or more incoming associates to be interviewed for an upcoming article. They need someone who has been greatly impacted in terms of basic living details (mortgage, health insurance, family) due to Heller's decision to dissolve. Let me know (hellernomore@gmail.com) and I will send your information on to the writer if you are interested.

Heller Highwater

Heller Drone continues to add recruiter and job info, so don't forget to keep checking!

hellerdone.wordpress.com/job-help/

Clerkship Opportunities

I received this tip from a fellow formerly incoming associate, and it certainly is worth posting:

"Some judges were appointed to the federal bench last week (see below), I’ve spoken to at least one of them and they are all going to need Law Clerks that can start almost immediately . . . ."

In a somewhat surprising move, the Senate approved ten more of President Bush's federal judicial nominees last Friday, September 26th. Although the Senate Judiciary Committee has, in years past, observed the Thurmond Rule, whereby nominees are not acted upon right before an upcoming presidential election, the Committee allowed ten district court judges to move out of committee and to a floor vote. Clark Waddoups of the District of Utah; Michael Anello of the Southern District of California; Mary Scriven of the Middle District of Florida; Christine Arguello and Philip Brimmer of the District of Colorado; Anthony Trenga of the Eastern District of Virginia; C. Darnell Jones, II, Mitchell Goldberg, and Joel Slomsky of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; and Eric Melgren of the Eastern District of Kansas all received lifetime appointments.

Help from Within

We are getting incredible support from some Heller employees!

First, I would like to thank "Observer," a senior associate, for forwarding our concerns to a member of the Dissolution Committee. I hope that we will hear back from them in a timely manner.

Second, Heller Drone is simply the best! Heller Drone compiled the placement opportunities found on the intraweb site into an Excel grid so that we now have access to that information. If you are still looking for a job and would love to use this extra resource, please e-mail me at hellernomore@gmail.com and I will send you the file.

I also wanted to thank all of you who have e-mailed me with your support and stories. I am a bit sad we will no longer be firmmates, but I'm glad I chose a firm that has and would have had some great people.

Best of luck to all of us.

Do You Have a New Job Offer Yet?

What We Would Like to Know

• If accounts can be created for us so that we may use the job placement intranet site.
• If we will still receive our $10,000 stipend. If so, lump sum? Is there still a requirement that we not find other permanent employment (which would not make sense)? If not, any other compensation?
  
• If our relocating and traveling expenses will still be reimbursed.
• If those with clerkships will still receive clerkship stipend (I don't know if they were also promised the $10,000 stipend), or a portion thereof.

The above are my questions and questions I saw others ask on other sites. If you have any more concerns, please leave a comment and I will edit the post to include your question.

Welcome to the Support Group

The last formal communication we formerly incoming associates received from Heller was the notice that our start dates were moved back to January. We did not hear from the firm when those in charge formally decided to dissolve, though we were probably refreshing ATL or other legal news websites when it happened.

Judging from some of the comments from other sites, we may be seen as a spoiled bunch with a lot of other options. But some of us are not rich kids with parental support; some of us

• have children
• have spouses that depend on us because they are finishing their own degree
• have little money and our loan payments will kick in soon
• do not even know if we've passed the Bar Exam
• started clerkships in a city different from where we want to end up and will have difficulty interviewing
• are afraid the moving company will ditch their plans to move us because Heller might not pay up
  

This blog is meant to be a support group for us formerly incoming Heller associates. We can talk about our hardships, our plans, whatever. Maybe we can even form a cohesive voice so we will not be ignored any longer.

If you would like to have administrative & posting privileges, please let me know at hellernomore@gmail.com.