Viability of Jewell v. Boxer Is At Stake.
In our July 30, 2016 post, we observed that the Ninth Circuit in In the Matter of Heller Ehrman LLP, Case No. 14-16314 (9th Cir. 7/27/16) (published) certified to the California Supreme Court the following outcome determinative question: “Under California law, does a dissolved law firm have a property interest in legal matters that are in progress but not completed at the time the law firm is dissolved, when the dissolved law firm had been retained to handle the matters on an hourly basis?” We can now report that the California Supreme Court granted the federal appeals court’s request to take up the issue, which will determine if the case of Jewell v. Boxer has viability on how unfinished business is handled upon a law firm’s dissolution. The state supreme court announced it will take up the issue on September 14, 2016.
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