Greenberg Traurig

Infobox Law Firm
firm_name = Greenberg Traurig
firm_
headquarters = Miami, Florida
num_offices = 35 total (8 international)
num_attorneys = 1,700+
num_employees =
practice_areas =
key_people = Cesar L. Alvarez, CEO
Larry J. Hoffman, Chairman
revenue =
date_founded = 1967
founder =
company_type = Limited liability partnership
homepage = [http://www.gtlaw.com gtlaw.com]
dissolved =

Greenberg Traurig LLP is an international law firm with approximately 1,800 attorneys and governmental professionals in 30 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. [ [http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?&id=1208947716661 Two Firms Pass the $2 Billion Mark ] ]

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. [ [http://www.gtlaw.com/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressReleases?find=dXNlcnBvcnRhbC9mZXRjaC52P19vYmo9dmVfb2lkOnBvaWQ6WjF0T2w5TlBsMGJTYkR0U0lMNlJiNXNTYmYzRXU0M0M= Greenberg Traurig Selected by Chambers and Partners as USA Law Firm of the Year - Greenberg Traurig, LLP ] ]

Offices

North America

*Albany
*Atlanta
*Austin
*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

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

Asia

*Shanghai, China
*Tokyo, Japan (Greenberg Traurig office and strategic alliance with nihongo|"Hayabusa Asuka Law Offices"|隼国際法律事務所 for Japanese legal work)

History

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. [ [http://www.law.miami.edu/news/527b.html Greenberg Traurig Endows the Larry J. Hoffman Greenberg Traurig Distinguished Professorship] ] Much of the firm's growth was achieved by handpicking lawyers compatible with the firm's goals. [ [http://www.gtlaw.com/about/index.aspx?id=100&catID=103 Hire Talent] ] 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. [ [http://www.gtlaw.com/about/index.aspx?id=100&catID=103 Hire Talent] ] During the past decade, the firm grew by over 800 percent and New York became its largest center of business. [ [http://www.vault.com/companies/company_main.jsp?co_page=2&product_id=1821&v=1&tabnum=2 Greenberg Traurig, LLP] ]

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. [ [http://www.chambersandpartners.com/usa/rankings36.aspx?fid=3579&solbar=1 Chambers and Partners : Chambers USA Guide Rankings ] ] Greenberg Traurig also emerged by a wide margin as the top trademark litigator in the United States in 2008. [ [http://www.gtlaw.com/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressReleases?find=dXNlcnBvcnRhbC9mZXRjaC52P19vYmo9dmVfb2lkOnBvaWQ6WjF0T2w5TlBsMGJTYkR0U0lMNlJiNXNTYmZKQ29HM0NxMCE= Greenberg Traurig No. 1 in Trademark Filings for 4th Consecutive Year in CSC Trademark Insider® Rankings - Greenberg Traurig, LLP ] ] 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.

Pro Bono

Fellows Program

The Greenberg Traurig Fellowship Foundation sponsors Equal Justice Works to support legal fellows across the country for the provision of pro bono legal services to community programs. These public interest law fellowships begin each September and run for two years.

The Greenberg Traurig Fellowship Foundation was established in 1997. Since then, Greenberg Traurig has sponsored, in whole or in part, more than 85 fellows who have worked on public interest projects in many of the communities in which the firm practices. Through Equal Justice Works, the Greenberg Traurig Fellowships offer salary and loan repayment assistance, a national training and leadership development program, and other forms of support. [ [http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/node/77 Equal Justice Works Fellows for Class of 2007] ]

Family Court Program

The Family Court Legal Services Project is a discrete pro bono program where attorneys from law firms and corporations provide advice and counsel during 30-minute one-on-one sessions to pro se litigants who come to family court on matters involving child support, visitation, custody, guardianship and paternity.

Greenberg Traurig LLP helped spearhead the New York City Family Court Legal Services Project, which provides low-income litigants in family court with free legal advice. [ [http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/PubArticleNY.jsp?id=1202421231283 Making Seven Minutes Count] ]

Controversies

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. [ [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1154077535443 Greenberg Traurig Has Big Incentive to Make Talks With Tribe Work] ] The firm became one of the top 10 of Washington lobbying firms, moving from 16th place to fourth, according to the National Journal. [ [http://www.bizforward.com/wdc/issues/2002-11/government/abramoff/ www.bizforward.com] ]

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. [ [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1154077535443 Greenberg Traurig Has Big Incentive to Make Talks With Tribe Work] ]

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" [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5254005 Lobbyist Abramoff Says GOP Elite Know Him Well] ] .

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 [ [http://www.abajournal.com/news/greenberg_traurig_indicted_in_guam Greenberg Traurig Indicted in Guam] ] . 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 [ [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1208169991022 Felony Charges in Guam Dropped Against Greenberg Traurig] ] .

Other Controversies

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." [ [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1173101898582 Will the Corporate Model Backfire on Greenberg?] ] 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. [ [http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2006/2006_08075.htm www.courts.state.ny.us] ] 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: 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." [ [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1173101898582 Will the Corporate Model Backfire on Greenberg?] ] In 2001, Victor Reyes, a political operative who headed the Hispanic Democratic Organization and had close ties to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, joined Greenberg Traurig 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 [ [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509230340sep23,1,671408.story?ctrack=1&cset=true Feds link close pal of Daley to hiring] ] . 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." [ [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1173101898582 Will the Corporate Model Backfire on Greenberg?] ] 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. 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. [ [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1173101898582 Will the Corporate Model Backfire on Greenberg?] ] 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. [ [http://www.abovethelaw.com/2007/01/lawsuit_of_the_day_marinaro_v.php Lawsuit of the Day: Marinaro v. Greenberg Traurig LLP] , from Above the Law (blog)]

References

External links

* [http://www.gtlaw.com Greenberg Traurig Official website]
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Greenberg_Traurig "Greenberg Traurig"] - article from SourceWatch
* [http://www.lawperiscope.com/profiles/105.html LawPeriscope Profile]
* [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1173101898582 "Will the Corporate Model Backfire on Greenberg?" American Lawyer, March 6, 2007]