[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

Dewey & LeBoeuf filed a liquidation plan in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan last week.  Six months after the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the sun has indeed set on the New York-based law firm, once one of the largest in the U.S. with 1,400 lawyers in 26 offices around the world.

The filing sets out a plan to recover an estimated $500 million Dewey owes to its creditors

• secured lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co, will have $261.9 million in allowed claims and another $100 million in claims that the plan would treat as unsecured
• the secured lenders will be first in line to receive any money recovered through Dewey's accounts receivable or through the wind-down of its foreign offices  [C-I Note: Dewey's most recent operating report listed $218.6 million in accounts receivable, though that might not be accurate, as 79% of them are more than 90 days old.]
• the secured lenders will also receive 80% of the first $67.5 million recovered by Dewey from the partners' settlement  [C-I Recap: In October, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn approved a settlement between Dewey's estate and 400 of its former partners who agreed to return $71.5 million in compensation in exchange for being released from further claims.]