Jul 14, 2010
Federal Judge Disqualifies Small Firm Over Appearance of Conflict
Noting a “heightened” concern about the appearance of conflicts within small law firms, a New York federal judge has disqualified a six-person firm from representing a plaintiff in a discrimination suit against a school board because one of the firm’s associates served as an officer of the board. Eastern District of New York Judge Joseph F. Bianco noted that the presumption that clients’ confidences are shared within a firm, while rebuttable, “is much stronger within a small firm than a large firm.”