In Bankruptcy With a $19,000 Monthly Rent

A view of sign outside of the offices of the law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf in New York, N.Y., in May 2012

European Pressphoto Agency

The 2012 collapse of the law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP disrupted the personal finances of many who worked there, from young associates left without a job to retirees caught up in collection efforts once the firm went into bankruptcy.

Partners accustomed to bringing home millions of dollars a year felt the pain, too, as evidenced by the personal bankruptcy filings of at least three ex-Dewey partners.

John Altorelli, the latest former Dewey partner to seek bankruptcy protection, filed for Chapter 7 in November to halt a $12.9 million lawsuit brought against him in the Dewey bankruptcy, according to a lengthy statement from his lawyer.

But behind the potential Dewey debt—which seeks to claw back all the money he made at the firm in its final 4 1/2 years—is an extravagant lifestyle that’s costing quite a bit of cash on its own. In a 90-page disclosure filed last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bridgeport, Conn., Mr. Altorelli details how a monthly income of $134,611 is completely eaten up, and then some, by more than $196,000 in monthly expenses.

Many of those costs stem from real estate, including a $19,000 monthly rent for an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and $11,756 per month in mortgage payments for his seven-bedroom home in New Milford, Conn. He’s also footing the bill for two other Connecticut properties that, like his primary home, are worth less than what he paid for them.

Tack on $7,450 a month for a car service, nearly $25,000 in alimony and hefty tax obligations, and the monthly costs quickly rise.

Mr. Altorelli declined to comment Monday on his finances, which are laid bare in the filings. The disclosures also include a list of every household item, article of clothing, book and CD in his possession, including 32 suits, 70 ties, seven blenders, a 2008 Cadillac Escalade and a $16,000 watch. (Even his dogs—two Rottweilers and a German shepard—get mentioned).

As Dewey began to crumble in 2012, Mr. Altorelli stayed almost until the end, leaving in April 2012 for the finance practice at global mega-firm DLA Piper. His new firm lent him $3.7 million, according to court filings, which he has to pay back. A DLA Piper spokesperson did not return a request for comment Monday.

All told, Mr. Altorelli lists assets of $5.1 million and liabilities of $27.6 million, including several Dewey-related debts and loans owed to Citibank, Barclays Bank, JP Morgan Chase Bank and Wells Fargo Bank.

Many former Dewey partners disposed of their obligations to the defunct firm back in 2012 by accepting a tough-to-swallow deal that asked them to return a portion of their Dewey earnings to benefit of the firm’s creditors. Mr. Altorelli could have paid $1.4 million as part of the settlement but chose to fight. By November, his lawyer said, he could fight no further.

Write to Sara Randazzo at sara.randazzo@wsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @sara_randazzo

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