The once high-powered Chicago law firm of Keck, Mahin & Cate has called in William A. Brandt Jr., a reorganization specialist, to chart its future.
Brandt said the firm, which has experienced an exodus of lawyers in the last few years, retained him a week ago amid rumors that it might close its doors by Oct. 31.
“They’re not going out of business,” said Brandt, head of Development Specialists Inc. “When people hear that I’ve been called in, they immediately assume a company is going into bankruptcy. That’s not the case at Keck.
“I’ve been hired to do a financial analysis and help them assess alternatives. The word `dissolution’ has not been mentioned in my discussions with their key partners. Any reports of their imminent demise are wrong.”
Brandt said, however, that “it’s likely they will move to another Loop location by Oct. 31. They have decided to take a long, hard look at their space needs.”
Officials of Keck couldn’t be reached for comment despite repeated phone calls.
Brandt pointed out that he has been successful so far in helping Mercury Finance Co. avoid bankruptcy since the used-car financing firm hired him in February. Mercury ran into trouble when an audit disclosed that its profits had been artificially inflated in recent years.
The law firm has shrunk considerably in the last few years, both in terms of staff, clients and the space it rents in the R.R. Donnelley Building at 77 W. Wacker Drive. It currently occupies three floors, or about 120,000 square feet, down from 215,000 square feet in 1995, he said.
The firm reportedly is down to fewer than 100 lawyers from about 350 in 1992. Ten attorneys left Keck early this month to join the Chicago office of Rudnick & Wolfe.
The 77 W. Wacker Limited Partnership, which owns the building, filed a suit Monday in Cook County Circuit Court seeking a payment of $1.3 million in past-due rent. A hearing was scheduled for Aug. 26.
“There have been several restructurings of the lease agreements down the years,” Brandt said. “There also have been some misinterpretations and ill feelings on both sides.”
