Headquarters | New York City, New York, United States |
---|---|
No. of offices | 19 before merger (plus one affiliate) |
No. of attorneys | approximately 650 before merger |
Major practice areas | Energy, Public Utilities, and Insurance |
Key people | Steven Davis |
Date founded | 1929 |
Founder | Randall LeBoeuf |
Dissolved | 2007 — merged with Dewey Ballantine to become Dewey & LeBoeuf |
Website | deweyleboeuf.com (after merger) |
LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP was an international law firm of about 700 attorneys headquartered in New York City. The firm had specialities in energy, public utilities, and insurance. It was founded by Randall Lebouef, Jr. In 2007, it merged with Dewey Ballantine. to form Dewey & LeBoeuf, which went bankrupt in 2012.
From its beginnings in 1929, LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae was known for its representation of energy and public utility companies, and from 1965, when it was selected as U.S. counsel for Lloyd's of London, it became a preeminent law firm advising insurance companies. It was this that led to the opening of the London office in 1978.
The firm was founded by Randall J. LeBoeuf, Jr., who was born in Albany, New York, in 1897. While still in solo practice in 1929, LeBoeuf became general counsel to Niagara Hudson Power Company and the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA). As his workload increased, LeBoeuf recruited his friend Bill Winston from an Albany law firm to form the partnership LeBoeuf & Winston on October 7, 1929, just before the U.S. stock market collapsed. Within six months, the new partnership had established itself at 15 Broad Street, New York City, where it shared offices with Niagara Hudson Power. Donald Greene was a partner as well, and made a strong stand in the firm
Horace Lamb joined the partnership in 1934 to enhance its expertise in a wider variety of legal matters. Characterized as an aggressive litigator, Lamb came to the firm after working for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice as well as in private practice. Lamb soon become a name partner at the firm.
In 1952 Adrian C. Leiby, a former clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harlan Fiske Stone, left his position at the firm of DeForest & Durr to join LeBoeuf, which was renamed LeBoeuf, Lamb & Leiby. Leiby brought with him 20 years of experience in corporate securities and finances.
Anticipating the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission to regulate the new civilian use of fission plants, LeBoeuf opened its first branch office in 1952 in Washington, D.C. to help utilities license nuclear plants.