A former partner in the New York office of Dorsey & Whitney is suing the Minneapolis-based law firm, claiming gender discrimination and violations of the whistleblower act, among other things.

Hennepin County District Court Judge Gary Larson heard an hour of arguments Tuesday on the Dorsey firm's motion to dismiss Kristan Peters' suit.

Peters began working as a Dorsey partner in January 2007 and left on June 23. At the core of the case is her handling of a trade secrets dispute on behalf of Wolters Kluwer Financial Services in New York. The matter drew media attention in trade publications, largely because of U.S. District Court Judge Harold Baer Jr.'s 129-page opinion criticizing Peters' behavior.

According to R. Scott Davies of Briggs and Morgan, who is representing Dorsey, Baier scolded Peters 22 times for her handling of the case. Davies said Peters played fast and loose with the litigation, lied to the court and misrepresented circumstances to the firm's partners.

Peters' lawyer James Kaster countered that the judge's behavior, not Peters', was unusual. The behavior Baer disliked -- such as scheduling a 7-hour deposition over two days and refusing to give bathroom breaks -- is not unusual, Kaster said.

Washington, D.C., law firm Hogan & Hartson is negotiating to take at least 40,000 square feet in the planned Legg Mason Tower, a 24-story office building to be constructed on the fringes of the city's business district at the waterfront Harbor East development.

The law firm would be the first tenant to follow Legg Mason to the new office tower, where rents are said to be the highest in the city. Legg is slated to move by summer 2009 from its signature office building at Light and Pratt streets.

Hogan has about 45 local lawyers and about 30,000 square feet at Harborplace Tower, a waterfront office building at Calvert and Pratt streets where its lease is set to expire in October. The building is connected to the Gallery shopping mall.

Birmingham law firm White Arnold & Dowd PC and fellow Birmingham firm Summey & Hennecy have merged.

Partners Sidney C. Summey and Karen M. Hennecy and their staff members recently agreed to join White Arnold & Dowd PC, which brings the firm's total staff to 17.

The move strengthens the firm's growing probate and elder law practice, a news release said.

Summey has more than 30 years of experience practicing in the probate and civil courts in Alabama and will continue his primary practice of wills, trusts and estates, assistance to litigators handling lawsuits for minors and incompetents, special needs trusts and planning, guardianships and conservatorships, elder law and litigation related to probate issues.

Hennecy will concentrate her practice on elder law issues, assisting clients and their families with matters including advance directives, durable powers of attorney, wills, trusts, asset preservation and Medicaid planning and administration of the estates of decedents and protected persons.

Princeton-educated Maze was executive director in Morgan Stanley's leveraged and acquisition finance group.

"We have built one of the pre-eminent combined high yield and senior leveraged finance capabilities in the market, and Dan's arrival further bolsters our banking practice," said Andrew Moyle, managing partner in the firm's London office.