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
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2 comments:
Well I hate to see a fellow blogger hang it up but in this situation I totally understand. It is difficult for a group of incoming associates to band together to sue Heller, etc. especially if you were not in the same summer program together or in general did not have much time to work with each other.
If you have a copy of the communication from Heller or can scan it please send me a copy.
I wish you and the rest of the former incomings good luck. We'll be thinking about you over at Heller Highwater (http://hellerdrone.blogspot.com)
Thomas MacEntee
aka Heller Drone
Sad news. But all of you former incoming associates who don't have new jobs (yet) should consider doing the following:
1. Send the firm a demand letter, specifying the items and amounts that you are owed but have not been paid. State that these are contractual obligations, of which the firm is in breach. I would suggest sending it to Benvenutti, as chair of the Dissolution Committee, at his new address at Jones Day - S.F.
2. Continue to follow events (here, or at HellerDrone, or at Above The Law [caution on accuracy there]).
3. If there happens to be a Heller bankruptcy filing (not predicting there will, or won't be), file a claim in in it.
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There have been some rumors that Heller's AR collections have been going well. It may well be that there is enough money at the end of the day to pay what you are owed, before the partners get anything. IMO, you should get what is owed you before they see any money.
Good luck to you all.
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