"Conflicted Out"

This week, LEGAL TIMES reported the recently-filed case of our client, Patricia Dillman, against her former employer, the law firm of Holland & Knight (H&K).

Ms. Dillman, who was director of the litigation support group for H&K in Washington, D.C., accepted a job offer from Hughes, Hubbard & Reed in New York City.  But then H&K informed HH&R that if it hired Dillman,  H&K would move to disqualify HH&R from a large case in which the two firms represented opposing sides.  Dillman, however, had worked only a few hours on that case, searching for electronic discovery vendors, and had never been privy to any client confidences.  HH&R retracted its job offer because of H&K's threats.

New York State ethical rules put the burden on lawyers, not support staff, to ensure that client confidences are maintained.  Lynne Bernabei, lead counsel for Ms. Dillman, comments: 

I’ve never seen anything like this...The bar has an ethical concern with lawyers being stopped  from moving from one firm to another firm. But Dillman was not a lawyer.

For the LEGAL TIMES story, see:

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/01/holland-tortiou.html