In an interview with The Lawyer newspaper, Mr Sharp – who resigned from Dewey on 3 May and joined the London office of Philadelphia-based Morgan Lewis & Bockius – launched an attack on the failing firm, rebuffing claims that broke a promise to his colleagues to save his own neck.

'Completely ignored'

Mr Sharp said: ‘In mid-March I told [staff] I was not about to disappear. The situation changed.
‘There’s so much to this. We got to a point by mid-April where it became impossible to hold together any sort of London practice at Dewey & LeBoeuf. I’d also put a proposal to New York to try and hold together a team -- I surveyed the office and put forward what I thought was possible, how that could be a viable practice. It was completely ignored.’
Mr Sharp came to been seen a villain among Dewey’s remaining staff as many claimed that he strongly suggested he would not leave the firm despite the hard times.
A current Dewey associate told The Lawyer: ‘Peter had met with each of the floors in the building and his message was, there’s a rumour going round that I may be leaving, and I can tell you that that’s not going to happen. [He said] you will not see that headline. Of all the parallels with Captain Schettino -- he fell into the lifeboat, and he’s leading the rescue from the shore.’
Following a partnership meeting on 20 April, Mr Sharp maintains his hand was forced because of a number of other partner exits. ‘That’s the point when I decided the only constructive thing I could do was try and find a safe home for as many people as possible,’ Mr Sharp said.

Bagging millions

The Lawyer’s report also reveals that two senior Dewey partners sealed a $3 million (£1.9m) bonus on top of their $2.5m fixed profit share cap when the firm renegotiated its contentious guarantee packages in March this year.
Despite assurances that the criticised scheme of guaranteeing pay to certain partners would be limited, it is reported that one star lawyer – on $6.4m – bagged a $6.9m deal following negotiations.