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California Legal Ethics Keyed to Wydick, 12th Ed.
Kirk v. First American Title Insurance Co.
Citation:
183 Cal. App. 4th 776, 108 Cal. Rptr. 3d 620 (2010)Facts
The case arose from four related class actions against First American Title Insurance Company challenging various business practices as violations of consumer protection laws. First American was represented by a team of attorneys who moved from Bryan Cave to Sonnenschein in February 2009. Prior to this move, in October 2007, plaintiffs’ counsel had consulted with Gary Cohen, disclosing confidential case information including theories, strategies, and case valuations. Cohen later joined Sonnenschein’s San Francisco office in January 2009, while the First American team joined different Sonnenschein offices. When plaintiffs learned of this connection, they moved to disqualify Sonnenschein. Although Sonnenschein implemented an ethical screen around Cohen, the trial court granted disqualification, finding that vicarious disqualification was automatic and that the ethical wall had been breached when Cohen worked on a related matter (the Lyons case). During the appeal, Cohen left Sonnenschein to return to government service.
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