A decade ago, the lawyer Barry A. Bohrer became a “name partner†at Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer, a prominent white-collar criminal defense law firm.
On Friday, Mr. Bohrer’s name will be removed from the door.
Mr. Bohrer and two of his colleagues, Lisa Prager and Lara Covington, resigned this week to join the law firm Schulte, Roth & Zabel.
“We are delighted at the prospect of joining a firm of such depth, breadth and resources,†Mr. Bohrer said in a statement. “We look forward to joining old friends, with new platforms for our practices and new challenges to meet on behalf of clients.â€
The departure of Mr. Bohrer comes a little more than a year after the death of Robert G. Morvillo, a leading figure in the white-collar criminal defense bar Last April, three of Mr. Morvillo’s sons â€" Scott, Gregory, and Robert Morvillo â€" left Morvillo Abramowitz to set up another boutique firm, Morvillo LLP. In starting their own firm, they joined Robert Morvillo’s brother, Richard Morvillo, a former partner at Schulte Roth. (A fourth son of the late Mr. Morvillo, Christopher, is a partner at Clifford Chance.)
Paula Zirinsky, a spokeswoman for Morvillo Abramowitz, said that Mr. Bohrer’s departure was unrelated to Mr. Morvillo’s death and the new law firm started by his children.
“While we continue to miss Bob Morvillo, his death is unrelated to Barry’s departure,†Ms. Zirinsky said.
Morvillo Abramowitz, now with 44 lawyers, is one of the biggest names in the tight-knit white-collar criminal defense bar. Mr. Morvillo and his partner, Elkan Abramowitz, helped pioneer the business of representing businessmen! and political officials in trouble with the law. For decades, such representations were considered downmarket. Today, every big corporate law firm has a white-collar criminal defense practice.
A former federal prosecutor who joined Morvillo Abramowitz in 1987, Mr. Bohrer is currently handling docket of prominent matters. Among his cases are representing Gerard Denault, a former executive of Science Applications International Corporation, the government contractor that paid $500 million fine related to the CityTime payroll project scandal. A trial is set for the fall.
Mr. Bohrer also represents Steven H. Davis, the former chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf, the corporate law firm that collapsed last year. The Manhattan district attorney is investigating allegations of wrongdoing by Mr. Davis. Mr. Bohrer has said his client had not engaged in any misconduct.
He also has ties to a case that made news this week.Mr. Bohrer represented Jesse Litvak, the former Jefferies mortgage trader who was indicted Monday on charges that he defrauded his brokerage clients. Mr. Litvak switched lawyers midway through the government’s investigation and now is represented by Patrick J. Smith of DLA Piper.
Schulte has been looking to beef up its criminal defense practice in New York, where the firm is based.
