IN RE THELEN LLP

Nos. 136, 137.

24 N.Y.3d 16 (2014)

20 N.E.3d 264

995 N.Y.S.2d 534

2014 NY Slip Op 4879

In re THELEN LLP. YANN GERON, as Chapter 7 Trustee of the Estate of THELEN LLP, Appellant, v. SEYFARTH SHAW LLP, Respondent. In re COUDERT BROTHERS LLP, Debtor. v. DEVELOPMENT SPECIALISTS, INC., Respondent-Appellant, K&L GATES LLP et al., Appellants-Respondents, AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD LLP et al., Appellants-Respondents.

Court of Appeals of New York.

Decided July 1, 2014.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Rich Michaelson Magaliff Moser, LLP, New York City ( Howard P. Magaliff of counsel), for appellant in the first above-entitled proceeding.

Thompson Hine LLP, Cleveland, Ohio ( Michael R. Levinson and Thomas L. Feher of counsel), and Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Chicago, Illinois ( Lori L. Roeser and M. Ryan Pinkston of counsel), for respondent in the first above-entitled proceeding.

Miller & Wrubel P.C., New York City ( Joel M. Miller , S. Christopher Provenzano and Nicholas Cutaia of counsel), for Dechert LLP, Morrison & Foerster LLP ( Brett H. Miller of counsel) for Morrison & Foerster LLP, K&L Gates LLP ( Richard S. Miller and Brian D. Koosed of counsel) for K&L Gates LLP, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP ( Eric J. Emanuel , Susheel Kirpalani and Eric M. Kay of counsel), for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Duane Morris LLP ( Lawrence J. Kotler of counsel) for Duane Morris LLP, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Minneapolis, Minnesota ( Patrick J. McLaughlin of counsel), for Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Arent Fox LLP ( Allen G. Reiter of counsel) for Arent Fox LLP, Kramon & Graham, PA. ( James P. Ulwick , of the District of the Maryland bar, admitted pro hac vice, and Jean E. Lewis , of the District of the Maryland bar, admitted pro hac vice, of counsel) and Meister Seelig & Fein LLP, New York City ( Jeffrey Schreiber and Howard Davis of counsel), for DLA Piper LLP (US), and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP ( Daniel L. Brown of counsel) for Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, appellants-respondents in the second above-entitled proceeding.

Jones Day, Washington, D.C. ( Shay Dvoretzky of counsel), Jones Day, New York City ( Geoffrey S. Stewart of counsel), and Jones Day, Atlanta, Georgia ( Jeffrey B. Ellman of counsel), for Jones Day, appellant-respondent in the second above-entitled proceeding.

McCarter & English, LLP, New York City ( David J. Adler , Joseph R. Scholz and Eduardo Glas of counsel), for respondent-appellant in the second above-entitled proceeding.

Kaye Scholer LLP, New York City ( James M. Catterson and Margaret A. Rogers of counsel), DLA Piper LLP (US) ( Joshua S. Sprague of counsel), Hogan Lovells US LLP ( Scott W. Reynolds of counsel), Mayer Brown LLP ( Michael O. Ware of counsel), Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP ( Michael L. Cook and David M. Hillman of counsel), Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP ( Michael P. Pompeo of counsel), Holland & Knight LLP ( Barbara R. Parlin of counsel), Proskauer Rose LLP ( Steven E. Obus of counsel), Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP ( Robert D. Owen of counsel), Venable LLP ( Lawrence H. Cooke II of counsel), Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP ( Mindy J. Spector and Michael F. Walsh of counsel), and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP ( John C. Longmire and Stephen Greiner of counsel), amici curiae in the first above-entitled proceeding.

Diamond McCarthy LLP, New York City ( Allen B. Diamond , Howard Ressler and Andrew B. Ryan of counsel), for Alan M. Jacobs , Liquidating Trustee for Dewey & LeBoef Liquidation Trust, Diamond McCarthy LLP, Dallas, Texas ( Andrew B. Ryan , James D. Sheppard and Michael Fishel of counsel), for Allan B. Diamond , Chapter 11 Trustee for Howrey LLP, and Greenfield Sullivan , San Francisco, California ( Christopher D. Sullivan of counsel), for Michael Burkhart , Plan Administrator for Heller Ehrman LLP Liquidating Trust, amici curiae in the first above-entitled proceeding.

Glenn Lau-Kee , New York State Bar Association, Albany, Damian Schaible , The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, New York City, and Barbara Moses , New York County Lawyers' Association, for New York State Bar Association and others, amici curiae in the first and second above-entitled proceedings.

Keker & Van Nest LLP, San Francisco, California ( Steven A. Hirsch and John C. Bostic of counsel), and Lawrence E. Zabinski , Chicago, Illinois, and Daniel J Donnelly , for Attorneys' Liability Assurance Society, Inc., amicus curiae in the first and second above-entitled proceedings.

Chief Judge LIPPMAN and Judges GRAFFEO, SMITH, PIGOTT, RIVERA and ABDUS-SALAAM concur.


OPINION OF THE COURT

READ, J.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has asked us two questions relating to "whether, for purposes of administering [a] ... related bankruptcy, New York law treats a dissolved law firm's pending hourly fee matters as its property" (In re Thelen LLP, 736 F.3d 213, 216 [2d Cir 2013]). We hold that pending hourly fee matters are not partnership "property" or "unfinished...

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