Three former Dewey & LeBoeuf leaders have been cleared by a New York jury of some of the criminal charges brought against them in the wake of the firm's collapse, in a partial verdict delivered yesterday.

The trio – former firmwide chairman Steven Davis, former executive director Stephen DiCarmine and former chief financial officer Joel Sanders – were yesterday cleared by the Manhattan jury of charges of falsifying business records.

The jury at the New York State Supreme Court is still deliberating some of the most serious charges against the three men - fraud, grand larceny and conspiracy.

The trio have been acquitted of under half the charges brought against them in a trial which has so far lasted four months. Davis and Dicarmine faced around 49 counts each, while Sanders faced 53.

Davis has now been found not guilty on 19 counts of falsifying business records, Dicarmine has been cleared of 17 counts and Sanders has been cleared of 13 counts.

The ex-Dewey executives face as long as 25 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge of grand larceny.

The partial verdict comes 14 months after the criminal fraud charges – relating to the 2012 collapse of Dewey, which remains the largest ever law firm collapse – were first levelled against them.

Bringing the charges in March 2014 Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance said management had hidden the firm's true financial condition from creditors, investors, auditors and partners.

He added: "Their wrongdoing contributed to the collapse of a prestigious international law firm, which forced thousands of people out of jobs and left creditors holding the bag on hundreds of millions of dollars owed to them."

Davis has turned to Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello white collar partner Elkan Abramowitz to handle his defence; DiCarmine is represented by Bryan Cave partner Austin Campriello; and Sanders has called on Andrew Frisch, who runs his own New York boutique.

Previously, Sanders was represented by Hughes Hubbard & Reed securities litigation co-chair Edward Little before switching.