EVENTS LEADING up to David Warren's announcement that he will step down as managing partner of Verrill Dana LLP: 2007
MAY 29: Ellie Rommel, legal secretary for John D. Duncan, a partner at Verrill Dana, gives her notice of resignation.
JUNE 5: Rommel presents evidence of Duncan's alleged misconduct to another lawyer at the firm.
JUNE 13: Rommel asks to rescind her resignation and take short-term medical leave, but says that request was denied. This is her last day of employment at the firm. A firm spokesman later says that Rommel left of her own volition.
JULY: According to Rommel, managing partner David Warren contacts her with the information that the Duncan matter is being handled internally. Rommel said Warren told her that no crimes were committed, but Duncan had taken money that was supposed to be shared within the partnership and had repaid the funds. Rommel says she was asked to return to another position with the firm. She declines.
SEPTEMBER: Rommel contacts Portland lawyer Daniel Lilley. She questions the handling of the information she provided to the firm.
OCT. 5: Lilley demands that Verrill Dana preserve computers, e- mails and other evidence for a potential lawsuit by Rommel.
OCTOBER: Two outside law firms and an accounting firm conduct an audit of Duncan's work and the handling of allegations against him. They find evidence of broader misconduct over a period of years by Duncan, including alleged thefts from clients. Preliminary results of the audit are shared with the U.S. Attorney for Maine and the Cumberland County District Attorney. OCT. 28: Duncan's resignation is accepted by the firm.
NOV. 8: Verrill Dana formally expels Duncan from the firm.
NOV. 15: The firm sends letters to about 1,000 clients, notifying them of Duncan's dismissal and pledging to compensate anyone harmed by Duncan's misconduct.
NOV. 26: Three former Verrill Dana partners -- Gene Libby, Gail Kingsley and Timothy O'Brien -- open their own firm in Kennebunk. They say they left Verrill Dana because of "the handling of the Duncan matter."
DEC. 12: In a Portland Press Herald report, a spokesman for Verrill Dana acknowledges that Duncan has been fired and claims that the former partner overbilled and stole money from clients and the firm over a period of years. The outside audit of Duncan's activity is delivered to the Maine Board of Bar Overseers.
DEC. 31: Warren tells the members of the Verrill Dana executive board that he has decided to resign as managing partner. 2008
JAN. 2: Rommel files a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission and the Board of Bar Overseers. She claims that Verrill Dana, Warren and other executive board members violated the Whistleblowers' Protection Act.
JAN. 10: At a meeting of the partners, Warren announces his resignation as managing partner, but he will remain with the firm. Also that day, Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson gives information she received on the Duncan matter to the financial crimes division of the Maine Attorney General's Office.
JAN. 14: Verrill Dana sends letters to clients, announcing the news about Warren.
ABOUT THE FIRM
VERRILL DANA LLP is one of Maine's largest law firms, with more than 100 lawyers in Portland, Augusta, Kennebunk, Boston, Hartford, Conn., and Washington, D.C.
THE FIRM, which traces its roots to Portland in 1862, provides legal representation in dozens of areas, including the core legal services of litigation, real estate, business law, labor and employment law, and estate planning; and specialized areas such as employee benefits and executive compensation, intellectual property, utilities and energy, environment, and professional and collegiate sports law.
FORTY-FIVE Verrill Dana lawyers in 23 practice areas are listed in the 2008 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Source: Verrill Dana
David Warren will continue his role as a partner at Verrill Dana LLP, but will no longer lead the Portland-based firm. Warren, who has been managing partner since 1994, made his decision after Christmas and announced it to the full partnership at a meeting last week. A letter was issued to clients Monday.
Also Monday, the firm disclosed the amount -- $401,000 -- that former partner John D. Duncan is accused of stealing. The Falmouth resident had been a trusts and estates lawyer for Verrill Dana for 29 years, and was expelled by the firm in November.
"At its essence, our trust in John Duncan was misplaced," Warren said Thursday at a meeting of the partners, according to the letter sent out to clients. He said stepping down would best enable him to continue his contributions to the firm. A new managing partner is expected to be in place by the end of June.
Warren declined a request for an interview because he is a defendant in a complaint filed earlier this month with the Maine Human Rights Commission, and with the state board that oversees the conduct of lawyers.
"I think he concluded the best way to move forward and put the Duncan matter behind us was for him to make that decision" to step down, said Gregg Ginn, the Verrill Dana partner who has been a spokesman on the matter.
Ginn said an external audit showed Duncan embezzled $185,000 that was supposed to have been shared with the more than 50 partners in the firm. The audit showed Duncan stole $109,000 from a total of 10 client accounts, beginning in 1997 and ending in January of last year. Duncan also allegedly overbilled three clients for a total of $107,000. Ginn said those totals could change, as the firm continues its own review and receives information from former Duncan clients.
"Anyone who is asking for a review of John Duncan's bills, we are turning that over to outside attorneys, and we are providing that review," Ginn said. He said the firm has started the process of reimbursing clients for the money taken, plus interest.
Warren built a practice in corporate law before devoting most of his time to the day-to-day operations of the firm, as managing partner. He also holds leadership positions with several organizations, including the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, Maine Medical Center and the Portland Public Library.
Inside the firm, Warren carries a great amount of respect, and is credited for guiding Verrill Dana out of a slump in the early 1990s that coincided with an economic recession.
But he faced increasing scrutiny -- both within the firm and from the public -- for his handling of the Duncan situation.
In June of last year, a secretary reported Duncan for writing several checks to himself from a client account. Warren and other Verrill Dana leaders accepted an explanation and a repayment check from the apologetic Duncan.
They believed the lawyer's story that he had taken only $77,500 that was supposed to go to the partnership.
"There was a time that John was profusely apologetic, remorseful and regretting what he had done," Ginn said in an interview last month. "He maintained it was a matter of funds that were earned and should have been deposited to the firm's account."
It was not until October, after the secretary gave notice of a potential lawsuit, that the firm brought in outside auditors to check the books.
Their report showed Duncan had also stolen from multiple clients. The firm notified authorities, and Duncan was fired on Nov. 8.
Although some partners pushed for Warren to keep his top spot, he apparently decided the change was needed to move the 145- year-old firm forward.
"I think he feels very clearly that his trust in John Duncan was misplaced, and he regrets that, there is no...
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