Another 6 partners resigned Dewey & LeBoeuf as the daily, depressing, seemingly endless stream of defections begins to resemble one endless conga line that is headed out the door.  Today's group makes 46 in 2012 - out of 300 partners. The firm’s leaders, however, respond by noting that many of the departures were expected and that a substantial number of them were underperformers.  "We have said for weeks now that there would be additional departures both at the firm’s insistence and from professionals who didn’t feel they fit in with the new structure of the firm," according to a statement issued by the firm on Wednesday.  The statement continues ... "These departures, like the ones before them, will not have a negative economic impact on the firm.  When we put the new structure of the firm together, it was with the anticipation that while it still would be a major international firm in terms of scope, size and practice areas, it would be somewhat smaller in terms of the number of professionals." And perhaps it will be true, because as surprising as it may seem, several of the Dewey’s practice areas continue to thrive.  Richard Climan, an M&A lawyer in Silicon Valley, has advised Dell on several large recent acquisitions, including this week’s purchase of Wyse Technology.  And the firm has served as bankruptcy counsel to the Los Angeles Dodgers and advised the team on its announced sale last week to a group that includes the basketball legend Magic Johnson. Today's Departures. James Woods, co-chairman of the firm’s global insurance industry practice, left for Mayer Brown.  John Nonna, a litigator specializing in insurance disputes, leads a group of four lawyers leaving Dewey for Patton Boggs.  The group includes insurance-group partners Larry Schiffer and Eridania Perez.  In addition, Suman Chakraborty, of counsel at Dewey, will become a Patton Boggs partner. And Peter Ivanick, a bankruptcy partner specializing in insurance, is moving to Hogan Lovells, while Lawrence Sung, a patent lawyer in Washington, is departing for Baker Hostetler. The latest moves by Mr. Woods and Mr. Nonna’s group add to the virtual decimation of Dewey’s insurance practice, which has lost more than 20 partners.  Insurance has long been regarded as one of the firm’s premier practices. Departing Partner Holds Firm in High Regard. Mr. Nonna, who is leaving with three colleagues, said in an interview that Patton Boggs presented him and his colleagues with a great opportunity.  He says he still holds his soon-to-be former firm in high regard. "I think there are some really some outstanding lawyers at Dewey with some strong practices and I think they are committed to the firm and surmounting these challenges," Mr. Nonna said. On Tuesday, the American Lawyer magazine said it planned to revise Dewey’s last 2 years of financial results that it publishes in its Am Law 100 rankings.  [C-I covers this story in a separate posting.]  American Lawyer said that the changes were the result of a discrepancy between the numbers that Dewey reported to the magazine earlier this year and results published in recent news reports. [Dealbook, 4/4/12]