Ouch – Legal Publishers Left With Unpaid Debts as Dewey & LeBoeuf Files

Among the top dozen creditors of Dewey & LeBoeuf which filed for bankruptcy yesterday were some familiar names:

Thomson Reuters $2.363 M

Lexis Nexis $1.413 M

Wolters Kluwer $653 K

I find the relative scale of the debts interesting, as well as the fact that the three publishers must have been prepared to continue to extend credit long after the newspapers were spreading word of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s troubles far and wide.

We’ve had scant experience of law firm insolvencies so I don’t know what has traditionally happened to the library when a firm closes its doors. Or in today’s digital environment are there simply few books to sell, even at fire sale prices.

Sad all round.

For those who want to understand why Dewey & LeBoeuf went astray, the best thing I’ve seen is Bruce McEwen’s assessment at the Adam Smith blog. My friends who know the New York scene tell me the analysis is spot on.

The website has already gone into 404 Land.