It seems US firm White & Case poached a lucrative bankruptcy team from London's Deacons firm's Hong Kong office. I blogged about this litigation when the case finally started in August here. Now the court has ruled in favor of Deacons, although damages have yet to be assessed:
In a dramatic turnaround, White & Case has lost its case against Hong Kong firm Deacons over a team of star insolvency partners the US firm recruited in summer 2002.
When White & Case poached rated Deacons partners Mark Fairbairn and Edward Cairns, Deacons hit back with a Hong Kong lawsuit claiming the two were in breach of their partnership covenants and that White & Case had encouraged the pair to break them.
The judge said White & Case's conduct, "amounts to a cynical disregard for the rights of Deacons, putting profit before honour, it is below the belt." . . .
[T]he judgment is a major blow for White & Case which has been attempting to build up its restructuring practice in Asia. A later hearing will be held to assess Deacons' damages.
The UK's The Lawyer.com has the story here.