A judge approved defunct law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan’s plan to pass along nearly $500,000 in unclaimed client funds to New York state as part of an effort to wind down operations.
Judge Paul Goetz of the Supreme Court of the State of New York acted last week after a lawyer for the dissolving firm said failure to move quickly would bring “significant negative impacts” for partners.
The 150-year-old law firm abruptly announced in October 2023 that it was going belly up after seeing waves of partners hit the exits and merger talks stall.
State rules of professional conduct obligate lawyers to send money from clients they can’t locate to the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection. The fund reimburses law clients who have been harmed by lawyer misconduct.
The funds belong to “clients, third parties, accounts, entities, and/or other beneficiaries” and have been unclaimed after the firm’s attempt to return them, said Bruce Schneider, the firm’s general counsel and a member of the wind-down committee, in a petition to the court.
Goetz’s order appears to grant only a portion of the requirements to wind the firm down; the firm is awaiting approval from Goetz to deposit $256,678.81 in unused client retainers, according to a parallel case in the Supreme Court of New York. The firm has already returned to clients an estimated $2.2 million, Schneider told the court.
Schneider and Goetz didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case is In the Matter of the Petition of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, N.Y. Sup. Ct., 161143/2025, 1/7/26
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