One of Louisville's oldest law firms is disbanding
One of Louisville's oldest law firms, Middleton Reutlinger, has dissolved.
The firm, which was founded in 1854 and had about 55 lawyers, was one of Louisville's best-known, medium-sized law firms.
Dennis Murrell, one of its three managing partners, said in an interview Friday that partners had “different visions for the future of the firm and how to best accomplish that.” He said they were unable to reach a consensus and decided to “go our separate ways.”
About 30 of its lawyers have decided to launch a new firm, Gray Ice Higdon, which Murrell named for “our new round of leaders.” Eight other lawyers are joining the Louisville office of the Lexington-based McBrayer firm.
According to two partners at the old firm, the catalyst for the break-up was a vote against granting equity partner status to a woman attorney.
“Not having strong female partners was unacceptable,” said one of the partners, who requested anonymity in order to discuss firm business done behind closed doors. “We are committed fully to diversity and inclusion.”
He said another woman was denied full partnership a couple of years ago, and that some of the lawyers who opposed both candidates did so to avoid diluting partnership proceeds.
Jennifer Barbour, the attorney who was passed over for the promotion, said in an interview that she didn't feel comfortable talking about the vote because she wasn't present for it and doesn't know firsthand why people voted the way they did.
However, she confirmed she has joined Gray Ice Higdon as a principal partner. "I am very excited to be joining the 14 other principal partners in starting this new firm and look forward to our future," she said.
The first named partner in the new firm is Elisabeth “Libby” Gray, who was chair of the litigation section in the Middleton firm.
All three managing partners – Murrell, Henry “Hank” Alford and John Salazar – have joined the new firm, which will do business at 4600 Shelbyville Road.
It also represents former Papa John’s founder and CEO John Schnatter in a lawsuit in which he alleges the Wasserman Media Group secretly recorded him in a media training session, then leaked the tape to Forbes, which produced a story that alleged Schnatter used the N-word. Schnatter said his remarks were taken out of context but they led to his ouster from the company.
More:John Schnatter suing creative firms that he says leaked comments leading to his ouster
Middleton’s clients also have included the Louisville Water Co., Sypris Solutions, Zimmer Biomet and El Toro, the restaurant company.
More:Prominent lawyer shifted assets to wife, separated from her, allegedly to avoid a $1M debt
Partners say the collapse of the firm was unrelated to the 2019 resignation of Charles G. Middleton III, whose family co-founded the firm, after he was accused in a lawsuit of fraud for transferring nearly all of his assets to his wife, then legally separating from her, to avoid paying a $1 million debt. Efforts to collect the money are continuing.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: One of Louisville's oldest law firms has collapsed and is disbanding
