VLG Goes, But Bigger Heller Fallout Still Ahead

The dissolution and exodus began relatively quietly at Heller Ehrman this week. Today, Cooley picked up 15 of Heller’s Venture Law Group partners, and about 20 associates. On Monday, Covington & Burling will officially confirm that they are picking up the much-reported 14 intellectual property partners, plus about 30 associates, and opening new offices in Silicon Valley and San Diego. Just posted, CalLaw looks at the VLG move and  considers the plight of Heller associates in general . (free reg. req'd)

The IP Group’s defection to Covington came roughly at the same time Heller’s merger talks with Mayer Brown fell through in mid-September. It’s never been made clear which came first, and whether one caused the other.

Individual moves started this week as well — Robert Badal left the L.A. office to join WilmerHale, and a reliable source told us that New York Heller partner Kevin Collins will join Goodwin Procter, though neither Collins nor his new firm returned our messages today. Badal told us this week that he’d been talking to WilmerHale before the dissolution was announced. Collins would not be the first solo lateral we know of, though. L.A. star Nancy Cohen is reportedly going to Proskauer Rose (no word yet on whether she’s taking associates, or even fellow partners) and Marcia Hatch, who peeled off from VLG to join Gunderson Dettmer (as noted by Zusha Elinson in his "Going Public" column yesterday, which picked Cooley to get the bulk of the VLG prize over competitor MoFo).

But the biggest question remains — who will rescue large chunks of the dissolving S.F. stalwart? There’s still no update on the status of talks with former merger candidates Baker & McKenzie and Winston & Strawn, both of whom are interested in picking up significant practice groups, or even whole Heller offices, but observers and insiders expect news to come by the middle of the coming week.

The coming weeks should see more lateral moves, and hopefully the kinds of big deals that preserve jobs for younger associates and staff, as well. We’ll keep you posted on developments. Feel free to do the same.

—  Niraj Chokshi