December 22, 2009
THE RECORDER
SAN FRANCISCO – A big lateral move by Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal’s Palo Alto co-managing partner Yar Chaikovsky turned out to be as stormy as Monday’s weather.
At noon, a source at the firm told The Recorder that the IP lawyer “just gave notice that he is leaving for McDermott. It is quite a scene as there are arguments between management and Yar. It’s quite a big disturbance.”
A few moments later, McDermott, Will & Emery issued a press release announcing that Chaikovsky would be joining the IP firm’s Menlo Park office. McDermott trumpeted the arrival of Chaikovsky, a patent litigator who founded and built Sonnenschein’s Silicon Valley office.
Reached in his office minutes later, Chaikovsky said he had resigned that morning and would join McDermott. “I just view that McDermott has a broader IP platform,” he said, adding that Monday was his last day. He said he wished his Sonnenschein colleagues well and that he thought the firm would be fine and declined to comment on the report that his lateral move had caused a furor.
But just a few hours later, Chaikovsky was on “a leave of absence” from Sonnenschein, according to an out-of-office response to e-mail, and a voice mail greeting not recorded in Chaikovsky’s voice. And though he’s still headed to McDermott, a spokeswoman there said the move would not be made immediately.
She would not say what was slowing Chaikovsky’s arrival. Chaikovsky could not be reached for comment on the change.
Sonnenschein spokesman Mark Young didn’t offer much clarity on the firm’s actions on Monday.
“Our firm’s management committee has considered the circumstances around Yar’s relationship with the firm, and Yar had been informed of the committee’s decision and as a result of that decision, Yar is on a leave of absence,” Young said.
Sonnenschein has a history of not playing the gentleman when high-profile partners leave the firm. When a group of IP lawyers led by Alexander Hadjis left for Morrison & Foerster last year, the firm put out a statement announcing that the partners had been asked to leave, a break with usual decorum.
Chaikovsky was one of the first patent lawyers at Yahoo. He later joined New York-based Weil Gotshal & Manges before heading to Sonnenschein in January 2007 to start up its Silicon Valley office.
Recruiter Larry Watanabe handled Chaikovsky’s move to McDermott. Recruiter Gary Davis said Chaikovsky deserves credit for building the office up to its current 20-lawyer head count.
“Yar is one of the bright young stars in IP in the Valley,” said Davis, who wasn’t involved with the deal. “He’s entrepreneurial; he’s got an infectious can-do attitude “ he opened up that office and built it up from nothing.”
Ironically, several of the lawyers that Chaikovsky recruited to Sonnenschein were from McDermott’s Silicon Valley office, including partner Jimmy Shin and a handful of associates.
The move to McDermott most likely means a step up in pay for Chaikovsky. Sonnenschein had profits per partner of $805,000 in 2008, while McDermott turned a profit of $1.5 million per partner. McDermott, which specializes in IP, is much better known for its patent litigation practice than Sonnenschein, but the Menlo Park office has lost a number of younger partners in recent years. Chaikovsky would fill a void beneath the office’s grand IP poobah Terrence McMahon and his No. 2, Vera Elson.
Chaikovsky wouldn’t comment on his clients, but in McDermott’s press release, Sarah Chapin Columbia, vice-chairwoman of the firm’s IP department, said, “Yar brings a diverse group of clients in a broad range of industries.”