Same Issue Pending in New York

Only a week before Breyer handed down his ruling in Heller’s bankruptcy case, the New York Court of Appeals heard oral argument on similar issues that came up in the bankruptcy cases of two other formerly major law firms, Thelen LLP and Coudert Brothers LLP. At argument June 4, some of the justices sounded skeptical about the wisdom of applying the unfinished business rule to pending hourly fees matters as opposed to contingent fee cases.

The issue came to the court from the Second Circuit, which asked for guidance on whether the unfinished business doctrine applies to a dissolving law ...