On February 2, 2024, the Fourth Department issued a decision in Capizzi v. Brown Chiari LLP, 2024 NY Slip Op. 00535, holding that an oral partnership agreement trumps the default rules of the Partnership Law, explaining:
With respect to the merits, although an oral contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, an oral partnership agreement can supersede the terms of Partnership Law § 40 and thereby, for example, place the value of pending contingent-fee cases outside the scope of a law firm’s distributed assets.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).