Claims Relating to Partner Departures
Notice to Clients of Attorney Departure Not Likely Protected Speech in California
Earlier this month, California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed with an Orange County trial court that several emails sent by a departing partner to clients and former clients announcing his departure to a new firm did not qualify as protected speech under anti-SLAPP laws. Although the Court of Appeal’s opinion was unpublished, the Court […]
Court Found No Conflict of Interest with Dual Representation of Law Firm and Partner Against Claims from Departing Partner Shareholder
Earlier this year, California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal found that a partner’s status as 50% shareholder of a law firm did not give rise to a conflict of interest which would preclude the firm’s counsel from defending the firm and another partner against the departing partner’s lawsuit. (See Coldren v. Hart, King & Coldren […]
Nelson Levine v. Lewis Brisbois Just Settled: Firm Laptops and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act – Lessons from A Recently Resolved Attorney Departure Case
As many attorneys who follow partner departures and lateral moves know, in 2014 a group of attorneys at Nelson Levine De Luca & Hamilton, LLC (“Nelson Levine”) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, left the firm to join Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP (“Lewis Brisbois”), a California limited liability partnership. This departure resulted in litigation that […]
Significant Victory in Challenge Against Unfinished Business Rule’s Application to Hourly Fee Matters in California
On June 11, 2014, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued a significant ruling in favor of several large law firms in the ongoing fight regarding whether and if a dissolved law firm has the right to profits from unfinished legal work its former partners brought to their new firms. In his Order granting summary judgment in favor […]
Bankruptcy Court finds that Unfinished Business Rule is Valid in California and May Apply to Hourly Rate Matters
There has been a lot of recent press about the validity of Unfinished Business Claims in California (also known as Clawback claims) following a ruling earlier this year by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali in San Francisco related to the Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White LLP (“Howrey”) bankruptcy. At issue, was whether the trustee of […]
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