KECK MAHIN & CATE

Case Highlights

• Developed formula for partner contribution settlement payment that is now the industry standard
• Coordinated firm’s orderly wind down

Case Narrative

It was the Keck, Mahin & Cate case in which DSI developed a standardized formula for partner contribution settlement payments.  Our formula, incorporating a host of the independent variables which DSI first identified in the Keck case, has now become the template for most law firm dissolution settlement structures, a development which most agree generally reshaped the customary approach as to how law firm dissolutions are conducted.  Keck, Mahin & Cate was a nationwide law firm that, at its pinnacle, had approximately 350 attorneys.  Bill Brandt was appointed Chief Executive Officer and DSI was retained to coordinate the firm’s orderly wind down.  During Keck’s Chapter 11, DSI helped negotiate a plan of liquidation whereby the Keck partners would contribute to a fund which was distributed to general unsecured creditors in exchange for an injunction prohibiting creditors of Keck from pursuing the individual partners for any further liability in connection with the obligations of the partnership.  DSI and Mr. Brandt also settled a long standing dispute with the landlord of Keck’s largest office, located in Chicago, and participated in the collection of accounts receivable and in the sale of personal property.