We are still sitting and gawking unabashedly at the awful train wreck that is now the fate of Dewey & LeBoeuf. The human carnage is unspeakable, yet we can’t stop staring.

The pundits are rapidly offering their own dissections for the cause of the carnage: Tales of corruption, deceit, dishonesty, mismanagement, sexual improprieties, criminality, dishonesty and such abound.

There is a huge amount of unnecessary pain that many will endure.

One of the odd things is that many at the top of Dewey’s dysfunctional food chain – extremely bright, accomplished and talented lawyers – could have avoided much of the pain that lies ahead of them by simply characterizing their relationship with the law firm as something other than “partners.” The irony is that many of these folks were not partners. They did not share in profits or losses. They had fixed multi-year contracts under which their income was guaranteed, regardless of the fortunes of the law firm. These agreements were the products of avarice, greed and shortsightedness, which could have and should have been avoided.

Now, the beneficiaries of these contracts are destined to pay handsomely for their previous ego gratification, a result which could have been easily avoided.

It’s all endlessly sad.