Diamond v. Hogan Lovells US LLP, No. 15-16326 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit certified the following questions regarding D.C. partnership law: (1) Under District of Columbia law does a dissociated partner owe a duty to his or her former law firm to account for profits earned post-departure on legal matters that were in progress but not completed at the time of the partner's departure, where the partner's former law firm had been hired to handle those matters on an hourly basis and where those matters were completed at another firm that hired the partner? (2) If the answer to question (1) is "yes," then does District of Columbia law allow a partner's former law firm to recover those profits from the partner's new law firm under an unjust enrichment theory? (3) Under District of Columbia law what interest, if any, does a dissolved law firm have in profits earned on legal matters that were in progress but not completed at the time the law firm was dissolved, where the dissolved law firm had been retained to handle the matters on an hourly basis, and where those matters were completed at different pre-existing firms that hired partners of the dissolved firm post-dissolution?
Court Description: Certified Questions Concluding that the claims of a trustee for the bankruptcy estate of a law firm turned on the answers to unresolved questions of District of Columbia partnership law concerning the scope of the interest, if any, that a partnership has in client matters started at the partnership but completed at another firm, the panel certified the following three questions to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals: (1) Under District of Columbia law does a dissociated partner owe a duty to his or her former law firm to account for profits earned post-departure on legal matters that were in progress but not completed at the time of the partner’s departure, where the partner’s former law firm had been hired to handle those matters on an hourly basis and where those matters were completed at another firm that hired the partner? (2) If the answer to question (1) is “yes,” then does District of Columbia law allow a partner’s former law firm to recover those profits from the partner’s new law firm under an unjust enrichment theory?
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on February 27, 2020.
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