PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania –
What’s in a name? Unfortunately for one Pittsburgh area law firm containing an unintentionally success-killing message, the answer is: everything.
The personal injury law firm of Bleedom, Drye & Rhunn, closed its doors last week and filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy after recent efforts to expand its client base fell short.
“I knew from the start that we shouldn’t have gone with alphabetical order,” said Patricia Bleedom, former partner in the recently shuttered law practice. “Truth be told, we tried all kinds of naming combinations, but none of them seemed to work. ‘Drye Rhunn’ was on the table for a bit, but with a name like that, it sounded like we weren’t ready to practice law, when in fact, we have over 45 years of combined experience!”
Partner Maxine Drye was the first to recommended a simple name change earlier this year when business began to taper off. “I came up with ‘Rhunn Partners’ but decided it sounded too much like sportswear. ‘The Drye Group’ was just, I don’t know – it just sounded sad. ‘Bleedom Limited Partners’ made me think of a commuter rail line, or something surgical,” she recalled. “We were going in circles.”
“We also considered ‘Rhunn Drye,’ she continued, “but that was like saying we couldn’t come up with any winning strategies for our clients. ‘Drye Bleedom’ didn’t sound approachable enough.”
“There was way too much talk about renaming the firm,” said LaVerne Rhunn. “We were wasting valuable time better spent chasing down accident victims and finding people who were maimed or injured on the job. I guess all that stationery we ordered is going to be used for scrap,” she mused, packing the remaining contents of her desktop into a shoebox. “We had a good run,” said Rhunn.
It’s not easy in the best of times to keep a business going,” commented Bleedom, “and with this economy, no matter how many clients you get who’ve suffered from medical side effects such as unwanted hair growth, impotence, insomnia, partial hearing loss, tinnitus, female ‘male pattern baldness,’ uncontrollable muscle movements, dropsy, temporary blindness, birth defects, itching, fever, rash, impotence, sneezing, congestion, wheezing, reverse asthma, high blood pressure, constipation and dry mouth, you reach a point where it’s just no fun anymore.”
So what’s next for Patty, Maxine, and LaVerne?
“We’ll probably do something together again, business-wise,” said Bleedom. We work so well together. The thing I’ll miss the most is the camaraderie – we had good harmony together.”
Drye looks forward to the change. “I’m always up for new challenges,” she said. And if these 2 gals over here want to try for something, I’m in!” she exclaimed, all smiles, with just a hint of sadness.
Rhunn was more philosophical about the turn of events. “Maybe it’s time to take a little step back and reexamine things,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to take up sculpting. Maybe I’ll try that. All I know is, when I’m through packing up, I’m going home, burying my head in a pint of Häagen-Dazs, turning off my phone, and catching up on my shows!”