The trustee who is winding down Howrey LLP is taking his first step toward staking a claim in the profits from continuing work that the defunct law firm's former partners took with them to their new firms, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy trustee Allan B. Diamond has won a federal judge's permission to subpoena, if necessary, the 70 law firms to which more than 200 Howrey partners jumped ship as the Washington, D.C., firm that specialized in corporate litigation collapsed last year. The order issued last week by Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali marks the opening of an investigation into the amount of compensation Howrey's creditors may be entitled to from the unfinished business that the partners started at Howrey and took to their new firms.
