Withers has fired one of its lawyers for moonlighting.
Matthew Roazen, a US-qualified attorney, was hired by the firm in 2013 as a special counsel in its London litigation department. He'd previously made his name in the Russian market, having worked at the Moscow teams of Akin Gump and LeBoeuf and in-house at Alfa Bank.
Roazen was brought in to increase the firm's Russian client base and insiders say that he started off well. But he'd clearly spent too much time in Moscow and had absorbed some of its, ahem, more relaxed business practices. Withers found out that he was moonlighting for an individual he had previously introduced to the firm and was billing him directly.
It's not clear why Roazen did this, or how he could have thought that he'd get away with it, but it backfired spectacularly. He was immediately dismissed.
A spokesman for Withers said "Matthew Roazen was employed as a special counsel at Withers. We discovered that he was conducting work outside the remit of his employment contract and consequently dismissed him. Our investigation of the matter did not identify any illegal activities, and we are confident that it did not result in financial losses for any of our clients."
Matthew Roazen, a US-qualified attorney, was hired by the firm in 2013 as a special counsel in its London litigation department. He'd previously made his name in the Russian market, having worked at the Moscow teams of Akin Gump and LeBoeuf and in-house at Alfa Bank.
Roazen was brought in to increase the firm's Russian client base and insiders say that he started off well. But he'd clearly spent too much time in Moscow and had absorbed some of its, ahem, more relaxed business practices. Withers found out that he was moonlighting for an individual he had previously introduced to the firm and was billing him directly.
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Russia. Strong like bear. Bent like dog's hind leg. |
It's not clear why Roazen did this, or how he could have thought that he'd get away with it, but it backfired spectacularly. He was immediately dismissed.
A spokesman for Withers said "Matthew Roazen was employed as a special counsel at Withers. We discovered that he was conducting work outside the remit of his employment contract and consequently dismissed him. Our investigation of the matter did not identify any illegal activities, and we are confident that it did not result in financial losses for any of our clients."
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