The doctrine of unfinished business received an unneeded, and hopefully only temporary, boost in May, in a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York titled Development Specialists v. Akin Gump Straus Hauer & Feld (DSI).1
In DSI, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon held that the dissolved law firm of Coudert Brothers LLP2 could share in the profit of matters billed on an hourly basis which were at Coudert prior to its dissolution but which were completed (finished) at other law firms after its dissolution. The decision is based upon the fact that the Coudert partnership agreement did not address the issue of unfinished business and on the court’s prediction of the likely outcome of New York law because the New York Court of Appeals has not ruled on this issue.
