San Francisco-based law firm loses 139 Seattle employees

Law firm

San Francisco-based Heller Ehrman, whose partners voted to dissolve the large law firm, has notified 139 people in its Seattle office that their jobs will be permanently lost in November.

The notice was filed Monday with the state Employment Security Department. The firm's Seattle managing shareholder, Brendan Mangan, did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday on the local attorneys' plans.

Heller Ehrman ranked sixth among Seattle law offices in number of lawyers, according to Puget Sound Business Journal's annual tally.

The firm's wide-ranging business-law practice included local work for Washington Mutual and Plum Creek Timber, and it handled at least two small initial public offerings this year that have not been completed due to poor market conditions.

Real estate

Home-price drop not as bad here

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 cities released Tuesday showed July home prices fell a record 16.3 percent from the previous year.

But the Seattle area, one of the metropolitan areas in the index, fared better than many of the others. The area median price fell 8.2 percent from July 2007.

The 20-city drop, the largest in the closely watched index started in January 2000, showed that the monthly rate of decline is slowing, but no turnaround is in sight. The index peaked in July 2006 and has plummeted nearly 20 percent since.

Seattle-area prices fell 0.2 percent from May to June and 1 percent from June to July — 13th out of the 20 cities for both month-to-month drops.

Still, the index shows that the Seattle-area median price is up 76 percent since January 2000, one of the five highest increases.

Nation / World

Software

EA's shooter-game project shot down

Electronic Arts (EA) on Tuesday canceled Tiberium, a spinoff of its popular Command & Conquer franchise of shooter games, and said it would lay off an unspecified number of employees at its Los Angeles office.

"The game was not on track to meet the high-quality standards set by the team and by the EA Games Label," EA spokeswoman Miriam Sughayer said.

Sughayer said the Redwood City, Calif., developer would strive to place most of the affected workers into other EA projects.

"This is not about cutting back financially," she said. "We still have tons of positions open, and we're hiring throughout the company."

Earlier this year, EA pushed back the launch of Tiberium to 2009. After spending more than a year developing the game, EA said it decided to cut its losses rather than put out a mediocre product that could mar the company's recent efforts to revitalize its reputation for producing high-quality titles in an increasingly crowded market.

Telecommunications

Qwest's union workers reject deal

Qwest's union employees rejected a tentative agreement that the company reached with labor leaders last month to avert a strike.

Employees represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) voted down the accord by "a substantial margin," said Al Kogler, a spokesman for the union. He declined to give the specific tally.

The rejection of the deal, reached by Qwest, the CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers on Aug. 17, renews the possibility of a strike. Denver-based Qwest, the third-largest local phone company in the U.S., said it remains fully operational and has reactivated contingency plans.

"We're disappointed and puzzled," said company spokesman Bob Toevs. "Especially with this economic backdrop. Over the next few days, we'll be getting together with the CWA to determine the next steps."

Kogler said the union would most likely meet with Qwest today. Union leaders also want to hold discussions with their members.

Most of the company's union employees are customer-service representatives and technicians who install and maintain phone lines. The workers span 13 states, including Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota and Washington.

Financial services

Wachovia still "well capitalized"

Wachovia said Tuesday that it remains "well capitalized" after Monday's announcement that it plans to sell its banking and other operations to Citigroup.

Wachovia said it can support its operating subsidiaries including Wachovia Securities and Evergreen Investments, which are set to remain as part of a standalone company after the Citi deal.

The Charlotte, N.C., bank also said the Federal Reserve stands ready to provide liquidity as needed.

Wachovia shares rose 90 percent Tuesday to $3.50.

Compiled from Seattle Times staff, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and McClatchy Tribune news service