Dentons Drama Could Play Out in Court After Rare Appeal Granted

A California appeals court has paused a New York arbitration proceeding between Dentons and John “Jinshu” Zhang, handing a long-shot victory to the ex-partner who says he was wrongly terminated by the world’s largest law firm.

In a rare occurrence, the appeals court on Friday granted Zhang’s emergency appeal request. Its order stayed a New York arbitration proceeding and signaled that the California court will determine what law applies and where the dispute will go forward.

The ruling keeps alive the possibility that the dispute will proceed in a public courtroom, which could extend a public relations fiasco for the ...