Greenberg Traurig
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| Greenberg Traurig | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Limited Liability Partnership |
| Founded | 1967, Miami, Florida |
| Headquarters |  Miami, Florida |
| Key people | Cesar L. Alvarez, CEO Larry J. Hoffman, Chairman |
| Industry | Legal services |
| Revenue | N/A |
| Employees | 1,700+ attorneys |
| Website | www.gtlaw.com |
Greenberg Traurig LLP is an international law firm with approximately 1,700 attorneys and governmental professionals in 29 locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Its headquarters are in Miami, Florida. Its presence in Europe is supplemented by strategic alliances with Olswang (offices in London, United Kingdom and Brussels, Belgium), and Studio Santa Maria (offices in Milan, Italy and Rome, Italy). In Tokyo, Japan the firm maintains both its own office and a strategic alliance with Hayabusa Kokusai Law Offices. Greenberg Traurig recently opened an office in Shanghai, China. Greenberg Traurig is the seventh largest American law firm based on number of lawyers.
Greenberg Traurig is managed by its Chief Executive Officer, Cesar L. Alvarez, and its Chairman and Founder, Larry J. Hoffman, from its Miami, Florida office, the firm's historic base of operations and administrative headquarters.
As of 2006, it was the 16th largest law firm in the world by revenue.
As of 2008, it was the 8th largest law firm in the United States by revenue.[1]
In 2007, the firm was selected as Chambers and Partners as US Law Firm of the Year for excellence in legal services in jursidictions around the world.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Offices
[edit] North America
- Albany
- Atlanta
- Boca Raton
- Boston (One International Place)
- Chicago
- Dallas (JPMorgan Chase Tower)
- Delaware
- Denver
- Fort Lauderdale
- Houston
- Las Vegas
- Los Angeles (Office located in Santa Monica)
- Miami (Founding Office)
- New Jersey
- New York (MetLife Building)
- Orange County
- Orlando
- Philadelphia
- Phoenix
- Sacramento
- Silicon Valley
- Tallahassee
- Tampa
- Tysons Corner
- Washington, DC
- West Palm Beach
[edit] Europe
- Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Brussels, Belgium (Strategic Alliance with Olswang)
- London, England (Strategic Alliance with Olswang)
- Milan, Italy (Strategic Alliance with Studio Santa Maria)
- Rome, Italy (Strategic Alliance with Studio Santa Maria)
- Zurich, Switzerland
[edit] Asia
- Shanghai, China
- Tokyo, Japan (Greenberg Traurig office and strategic alliance with Hayabusa Kokusai Law Offices (隼国際法律事務所?) for Japanese legal work)
[edit] History
[edit] Formation and growth
Greenberg, Traurig and Hoffman was founded in Miami, Florida in 1967 by attorneys Lawrence J. Hoffman, Mel Greenberg, Robert Traurig. The firm initially had only one associate and one junior partner, and had no plans of expanding outside the Miami metropolitan area. As recently as 1991 it only had two offices, in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
After Hoffman became managing partner in 1991, the firm began to expand nationwide, beginning with the opening of an office in New York City.[3] Much of the firm's growth was achieved by handpicking lawyers compatible with the firm's goals.[4] The firm claims that this tactic allows the firm to grow without diluting its business-oriented, 'built for change' culture, a unique outlook on the practice of law that is uncommon among other major firms.[5] During the past decade, the firm grew by over 800 percent and New York became its largest center of business.[6]
[edit] Greenberg Traurig today
The firm has grown from a small office in Florida to one of the largest and most prestigious firms in the U.S. and the World. In 2007 The firm received a No. 1 ranking for Bankruptcy/Restructuring; Construction; Corporate/M&A; Immigration; Labor & Employment; Litigation: General Commercial; Litigation: White Collar Crime & Government Investigations; Real Estate; Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use; Retail; Tax and Wealth Management. Chambers & Partners USA Guide, an annual listing of the leading business lawyers and law firms in the world, lists 111 Greenberg Traurig LLP attorneys in its 2007-2008 guide. Individual attorneys further received a No. 1 ranking in Litigation: Appellate; Litigation: General Commercial; Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations; Bankruptcy/Restructuring; Corporate/M&A; Real Estate; Construction; Tax: Employee Benefits; Immigration; Tax; Labor & Employment; and Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use.[7] Greenberg Traurig also emerged by a wide margin as the top trademark litigator in the United States in 2008.[8] In addition, Greenberg Traurig is widely-viewed as having the nation's leading Entertainment Law practice, particularly with regard to matters pertaining to the music industry.
[edit] Lobbying and Jack Abramoff scandal (Washington, DC)
In January 2001, lobbyist Jack Abramoff left Preston Gates & Ellis to join Greenberg Traurig. Abramoff brought a book of business then worth more than $6 million annually to Greenberg Traurig, according to his own estimates.
In 2000, before Abramoff joined the firm, Greenberg had $3.3 million in lobbying fees. After he joined in 2001, the firm took in $16.2 million in fees. By 2002, that number jumped to $17.7 million, and $25.5 million by 2003.[9] The firm became one of the top 10 of Washington lobbying firms, moving from 16th place to fourth, according to the National Journal. [10]
The firm fired Abramoff in early 2004 and has received praise from federal investigators and members of Congress for its cooperation in the Abramoff investigation. However, others that arrived at Greenberg with Abramoff were allowed to stay, including Abramoff's personal assistant. A Greenberg spokesman said that its federal lobbying revenue in 2005 was 1 percent of its total revenues of $860 million.
On July 12, 2006, the Alabama-Coushatta tribe filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against now-convicted Abramoff and his cohorts. Greenberg Traurig was not a named defendant, but the tribe began discussing a settlement payment by the firm later that month. Its lawsuit states that "There was a nexus between Greenberg, the enterprise and the pattern of racketeering." According to the suit, internal Greenberg e-mails showed that Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon, although not a member of the firm, "billed hours to tribal clients through Greenberg and that members of the law firm, including attorneys Kevin Ring, Shawn Vasell, Stephanie Leger, Todd Boulanger and others, fabricated hours and time entries for Scanlon." The suit also says the firm allowed checks sent by the tribe to a bogus Abramoff-linked think tank to be funneled and cashed through Greenberg Traurig.[11]
An NPR news report from March 2006 stated that: "...Abramoff recently granted a rare press interview to Vanity Fair magazine, where he asserts President Bush and other prominent figures in Washington know him very well. He called them liars for denying contact with him" [12].
[edit] Criminal indictment (Guam)
In March 2008, prosecutors in Guam indicted Greenberg Traurig on felony counts of allegedly making improper billings to Guam's superior court under the guise of charging for lobbying services by Jack Abramoff [13]. In April 2008, the charges of deception, theft and conspiracy were dismissed by Guam prosecutors after Greenberg Traurig agreed to refund $324,000 in lobbying fees to the Guam judiciary [14].
[edit] Hamilton Bank scandal (Miami)
In June 2006, Greenberg Traurig agreed to pay the FDIC $7.6 million for its role as a legal adviser to the now defunct Hamilton Bank of Miami, to settle allegations that it had helped to cover up bank officers' financial misconduct. The firm paid an additional $750,000 fine to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for allegedly protecting the bank's officers "by making materially false and misleading assertions and by suppressing material evidence."[15]
[edit] Jay Gordon scandal (NY)
In November 2006, Jay I. Gordon, the former chairman of Greenberg Traurig's tax practice, resigned from the New York bar and was disbarred for taking over $1.2 million in kickbacks on tax shelters that he had recommended to wealthy clients of the firm. Gordon admitted that between 1999 and 2002, he referred clients to packagers of tax shelter schemes and, in turn, those packagers expressed their appreciation by giving him kickbacks. Moreover, in connection with one kickback, Gordon caused the "referral fee" to be deposited into Greenberg Traurig's retainer account. He then created a series of fictitious bills, addressed to the client, but never sent, purporting to charge billable hours and expenses totaling over $540,000. Based upon these fake bills, the money was then transferred to the firm's income account, and Gordon received a "fee collection credit" for his imaginary work. The New York State appellate court described Gordon's conduct as involving "dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation". [16]
[edit] Leonard Ross scandal (Philadelphia)
In December 2005, Leonard Ross, an attorney associated with Greenberg Traurig's Philadelphia office, was charged with fraud and corruption as part of an FBI investigation into city government. Ross was a friend and former law partner of Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street. Greenberg's offer letter to Ross stated that he would do municipal finance work and represent clients that did business with the city, and, in exchange, the firm would pay him $10,000 a month plus annual incentive payments based on business he generated. The letter specifically stated that it "would continue for so long as John Street is mayor of Philadelphia." The firm subsequently received $690,000 in city-related legal fees over a four-year period. Ross, however, used his influential relationship with Mayor Street to procure over $50,000 in contributions to Street's re-election campaign from prospective developers.
In August 2003, a Pennsylvania state court threatened to hold Ross in contempt for failing to pay over to a client $125,000 that he had obtained for the client as the result of medical malpractice settlement two years earlier. Ross, who had been appointed by the mayor to chair a committee overseeing a development at Penn's Landing, gave insider information about the city's contractor selection process to a lobbyist who represented a development bidder. In return, the lobbyist helped Ross obtain a $150,000 line of credit from a bank in September 2003.
Ross left Greenberg in November 2005 and a few weeks later pled guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Federal prosecutors alleged that Ross's employment at Greenberg was "entirely dependent on his relationship with Mayor Street" and "a motive for selling his office as a PLC [Penns Landing Corporation] board member." [17]
[edit] Victor Reyes scandal (Chicago)
Victor Reyes, a political operative who headed the Hispanic Democratic Organization and had close ties to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, joined Greenberg Traurig in 2001 and led the firm's Chicago lobbying practice. After Reyes's arrival, from 2001 to 2005, Greenberg earned $ 3.5 million in city-related legal fees, including for representing the city in the United Airlines and RCN Cable TV bankruptcies. US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald subsequently alleged that Reyes's law office was central to a patronage scheme to funnel city jobs to pro-Daley campaign workers. Reyes resigned from Greenberg in August 2005, and in September federal prosecutors indicted five city employees, including a former Reyes aide, in the scandal. Reyes wasn't charged, but prosecutors called him as a "co-schemer" in the indictment [18]. Reyes later started a lobbying firm with three other ex-Greenberg employees. Reyes and the firm claim that his resignation was voluntary and due to conflicts of interest that prevented him from representing some clients. Greenberg CEO Cesar L. Alvarez stated, "I don't know about anything [Reyes] did in the firm that was wrong. I can only know what I have seen, and I only know that he hasn't been charged." [19]
[edit] Other scandals
In May 2005, Philadelphia partner Robert S. Grossman pled guilty to charges that he had lied in a 1996 bankruptcy case to cover up his improper diversion of over $100,000 to his personal account when he worked as a real estate developer in Virginia. He subsequently served four months in federal prison. Greenberg Traurig professed surprise at Grossman's arrest the following November for failing to report to prison, and stated that Grossman hadn't disclosed the criminal proceeding to the firm. Greenberg has stated that it now does background checks on all new employees.[20]
In January 2007, the firm was sued in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Bronx County, by Yasmin Marinaro, a former legal assistant, for discrimination and retaliatory termination. Among other things, Ms. Marinaro's complaint alleges that Harley Lewin, Esq., head of the firm's Trademarks and Global Brand Strategies Practice, referred to Ms. Marinaro as "Chiquita Banana", and that he subsequently sought to prevent her from reporting his behavior. The lawsuit also names Stacey P. Dougan, Esq., Assistant General Counsel to the firm, as an individual defendant.[21]
[edit] References
- ^ Two Firms Pass the $2 Billion Mark
- ^ Greenberg Traurig Selected by Chambers and Partners as USA Law Firm of the Year - Greenberg Traurig, LLP
- ^ Greenberg Traurig Endows the Larry J. Hoffman Greenberg Traurig Distinguished Professorship
- ^ Hire Talent
- ^ Hire Talent
- ^ Greenberg Traurig, LLP
- ^ Chambers and Partners : Chambers USA Guide Rankings
- ^ Greenberg Traurig No. 1 in Trademark Filings for 4th Consecutive Year in CSC Trademark Insider® Rankings - Greenberg Traurig, LLP
- ^ Greenberg Traurig Has Big Incentive to Make Talks With Tribe Work
- ^ www.bizforward.com
- ^ Greenberg Traurig Has Big Incentive to Make Talks With Tribe Work
- ^ Lobbyist Abramoff Says GOP Elite Know Him Well
- ^ [http://www.abajournal.com/news/greenberg_traurig_indicted_in_guam Greenberg Traurig Indicted in Guam]
- ^ Felony Charges in Guam Dropped Against Greenberg Traurig
- ^ Will the Corporate Model Backfire on Greenberg?
- ^ www.courts.state.ny.us
- ^ Will the Corporate Model Backfire on Greenberg?
- ^ Feds link close pal of Daley to hiring
- ^ Will the Corporate Model Backfire on Greenberg?
- ^ Will the Corporate Model Backfire on Greenberg?
- ^ Lawsuit of the Day: Marinaro v. Greenberg Traurig LLP, from Above the Law (blog)
