Court of Appeals Arguments of Interest for the Week of June 2, 2014

No. 129: People v. John F. Haggerty, Jr. (To be argued Tuesday, June 3, 2014) (this is a criminal case addressing an evidentiary issue also relevant to commercial litigators—the best evidence rule: specifically, whether the testimony of the attorney who drafted a trust is admissible to prove the ownership of the trust assets when the trust agreement was available). See First Department decision here.
No. 136: In re: Thelen LLP (Geron v Seyfarth Shaw LLP) and No. 137: In re: Coudert Brothers, LLP (Development Specialists, Inc. v K&L Gates LLP) (To be argued Wednesday, June 4, 2014) (addressing certified questions from the Second Circuit: “Under New York law, is a client matter that is billed on an hourly basis the property of a law firm, such that, upon dissolution and in related bankruptcy proceedings, the law firm is entitled to the profit earned on such matters as the "unfinished business" of the firm?” and “If so, how does New York law define a ‘client matter’ for purposes of the unfinished business doctrine and what proportion of the profit derived from an ongoing hourly matter may the new law firm retain?). See Second Circuit decisions in In re: Thelen LLP here and In re: Coudert Bros. LLP here .