A group of retired Dewey & LeBoeuf partners whose objections threatened to drag out or even derail the defunct firm's bankruptcy proceedings have reached a settlement that Dewey lawyers say should clear the way for the speedy approval of a pending chapter 11 plan, Am Law Daily reported today. The settlement, detailed in Thursday court filings, has been offered to 125 retired Dewey partners—most of them tied to legacy firm LeBoeuf, Lamb, Green & MacRae—who are being asked to repay the bankruptcy estate a portion of money they received from the firm in 2011 and 2012, including tax advances, payments from non-qualified retirement plans, and Of counsel and special counsel compensation. The retired partners also agreed to forsake future claims against the Dewey estate; abandon some $80 million in proofs of claim filed in the bankruptcy; assign any claims against former Dewey partners, employees, or firm leaders to the estate; and drop their appeal of a $70 million partner contribution plan signed on to by a majority of the firm's former partners. The settlement requires the approval of Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn, who has already approved the partner contribution plan.
