The Demise of Wolf Block-What Really Happened

Since ‘bulo’s previous article attracted a surprising (at least by ‘bulo’s expectations) response, he would like to share this ‘inside baseball’ article from the Philadelphia Inquirer. You just have to love a story that features the firm being blasted during a eulogy, a real eulogy:

The story begins in the mid-1980s, when the firm, then at the peak of its power and influence, underwent a tumultuous change in leadership.

It was then that Wolf Block’s respected and influential leader, Howard Gittis, decided to leave and join billionaire investor Ronald Perelman in New York.

With the firm under new leadership, bureaucratic brush fires broke out almost immediately, according to lawyers who worked at the firm at the time.

There are many lawyers in Philadelphia who still talk about the slights of that era with raw emotion.

So raw in fact that during his eulogy nearly two years ago for former city solicitor Alan Davis, a Wolf Block refugee revered for his intellect, sophistication, and legal skill, Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll L.L.P. chairman Arthur Makadon caused jaws to drop when he denounced the firm’s former management.

Facing a crowd of mourners that included Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pa.) and Gov. Rendell (D., Pa.), Makadon blamed the former leaders for forcing out not only Davis but also other lawyers who would have remained had they been treated with greater dignity and respect.

It’s been a few weeks since the Beast Who Slumbers has mentioned this word, but this story suits it. Schadenfraude, come on down!