With Dewey & LeBoeuf entering what would prove to be its death spiral, the firm quietly settled a $3 billion malpractice suit filed against it by Missouri insurance regulators, who accused its predecessor firm of participating in a conflict-riddled scheme to push General American Life Insurance Co. into insolvency and ultimately the hands of fellow client MetLife.
The abrupt dismissal of the case in February less than a month before trial came amid a stream of partner departures and mounting concerns about the firm’s financial condition, but it’s hard to know whether resolving the case added to the fiscal woes that ultimately doomed Dewey to oblivion because the terms remain shrouded in secrecy.
