Opinion ID: 400903
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cunningham's Counsel

Text: 25 In the case of Cunningham the balance tips decidedly toward honoring his retention of Tigar. Cunningham's interest in having Tigar represent him is particularly strong. Unlike many defendants who retain counsel only upon arrest or indictment, Cunningham has relied on Tigar for more than six years in a substantial number of investigations, prosecutions, and related litigations. Tigar's success on behalf of Cunningham, obtaining the dismissal of four criminal indictments and the invalidation by the United States Supreme Court of a state statute, has naturally enhanced Cunningham's confidence in Tigar. Tigar represented Cunningham throughout the six-year IRS investigation and is apparently thoroughly familiar with all nuances of the government's case, which includes allegations of a conspiracy spanning nearly a decade. The disqualification of Tigar from any further role in Cunningham's defense in this case would not merely defeat Cunningham's abstract right to be represented by counsel of his choice; it could subject him to real prejudice in this criminal prosecution. 26 The government's interest in disqualifying Tigar, on the other hand, is relatively weak, and we believe the disqualification is suggested neither by prior case law nor by the circumstances. The case whose facts most closely parallel those of the present prosecution is United States v. Armedo-Sarmiento, supra, 524 F.2d 591. In Armedo-Sarmiento, two defendants in a criminal prosecution had retained a law firm that theretofore had represented, in a substantially-related criminal case, three individuals whom the government planned to call as witnesses at trial. The government moved to disqualify the law firm on the ground that the three individuals were important government witnesses. Upon questioning two of the individuals and being advised that they were unwilling to waive their attorney-client privileges, the district court granted the motion to disqualify the defendants' counsel. We reversed, pointing out that, 27 (a)lthough the right to an attorney of one's choosing is not unlimited, the Sixth Amendment does give some protection to a criminal defendant's selection of retained counsel. 28 524 F.2d at 592. We concluded that the district court did not give sufficient weight to the (defendants') rights, and that the defendants' constitutional rights outweighed the government's interest in disqualifying the defendants' attorney. Id. Since the district court had not given the defendants an opportunity to make a knowing and voluntary waiver of their rights to be represented by attorneys who had no conflicting interest, we remanded the case to give the defendants such an opportunity, concluding our opinion with the instruction that every effort be made to accommodate the interests of both the defendants and the witnesses: 29 If the (defendants) do elect to proceed with (their present attorneys), it is to be understood that the witnesses will be entitled to full protection in preserving the confidentiality of their privileged communications with these attorneys, and they may refrain from answering any questions ... which are based on privileged communication. Moreover, the trial judge will, in his conduct of the trial, exert every reasonable effort to prevent inadvertent disclosures of confidential information. 30 Id. at 593. Thus, Armedo-Sarmiento strongly suggests that the disqualification of Tigar should be reversed. 31 The principal case relied on by the government and by the district court to support Tigar's disqualification is Emle Industries, Inc. v. Patentex, Inc., supra, in which we recognized our responsibility 32 to preserve a balance, delicate though it may be, between an individual's right to his own freely chosen counsel and the need to maintain the highest ethical standards of professional responsibility. 33 478 F.2d at 564-65. The circumstances in Emle, however, bear little resemblance to those of the present case. Emle involved an attorney who had represented a corporation in a four-year lawsuit and who later brought suit on behalf of another client against the corporation, raising one of the issues that had been present in the prior litigation. We held that the appropriate balancing of the competing interests led to the conclusion that the attorney should be disqualified. The principal Emle factors, i.e., an attorney switching sides and a challenge mounted by the former client, are not present with respect to Cunningham. More importantly, there is a factor in Cunningham's case that was not present in Emle: Emle was a civil case in which no Sixth Amendment rights were implicated. In balancing the various interests in Emle, the court was not concerned with any factor of constitutional dimension. Thus, as we observed in Armedo-Sarmiento, supra, in finding the lower court's reliance on Emle and other civil cases misplaced,(b)ecause these civil cases do not involve the crucial factor of the criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment rights, ... they are not controlling in the present case. 34 524 F.2d at 593. 35 The principal criminal case relied on by the government and the district court is United States v. Ostrer, supra, 597 F.2d 337. There we upheld the disqualification of the defendant's counsel, but again the circumstances differed from those present here. In Ostrer the defendant's attorney had formerly been a government prosecutor who had personally handled the prosecutions of two persons who were to be government witnesses at Ostrer's trial. The government moved for disqualification on the ground that the attorney had, as a government lawyer, obtained nonpublic information that he could use in defense of Ostrer. The district court granted the motion and we affirmed, observing that a defendant's right to counsel of his choice is not an absolute one, and that the fair and proper administration of justice required that the constitutional right yield when the former client sought to disqualify the attorney in order to protect its privilege. Id. at 341. The significant difference between the present case and Ostrer is that although in both the government is the moving party, in Ostrer the government was also the former client. Our decision in Ostrer went no further than holding that the former client may secure the attorney's disqualification. Accord: United States v. Kaufman, 429 F.2d 240, 247 (2d Cir.) (upholding disqualification of defendant's attorney on motion of a codefendant who was a prior client of the attorney), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 925, 91 S.Ct. 185, 27 L.Ed.2d 184 (1970). Thus, in Ostrer we stated that 36 disqualification motions should be granted where the attorney in question is potentially in a position to use privileged information obtained during prior representation of the movant.... Disqualification of counsel in such cases is rooted in notions of fundamental fairness; allowing an attorney to represent a client in a situation where he may use information obtained in the course of former representation of the client's adversary gives the client an unfair advantage. 37 597 F.2d at 339-40 (footnote and citations omitted; emphasis added). No case has been called to our attention, and we are aware of none, in which an attorney has been disqualified on grounds of conflicting prior representation solely at the behest of a person other than the former client or its privy. 6 In In re Yarn Processing Patent Validity Litigation, 530 F.2d 83, 88 (5th Cir. 1976), the Fifth Circuit stated, in the context of civil litigation, that (a)s a general rule, courts do not disqualify an attorney on the grounds of conflict of interest unless the former client moves for disqualification. 7 The refusal to disqualify in the absence of a motion by the former client is all the more appropriate in the context of a criminal prosecution with its implication of constitutional rights. 38 We conclude, therefore, that prior case law provides no precedent for the disqualification of Tigar as Cunningham's counsel at the behest of the government, and that Armedo-Sarmiento, in principle, requires the denial of the government's motion. Nor do the factual circumstances of the present case justify departure from Armedo-Sarmiento in order to disqualify Tigar, for all of the interests that the government asserts it wishes to protect, i.e., those of Spain, of Cunningham, and of the public, may adequately be protected without disqualification of Tigar. 39 Spain, the former client, does not seek to have Tigar disqualified. Spain has been represented by independent counsel since immediately after his own approach to Tigar. While Spain does not waive his right to assert his attorney-client privilege with regard to Tigar, neither Spain nor his counsel views the risk of an intrusion into that privilege as substantial enough to justify endorsing the government's motion for disqualification. Their view finds objective support in several facts. First, Tigar's representation of Spain was on a quite limited basis, in part because Spain and his principal counsel knew that Tigar represented Cunningham and would continue to do so. Second, many, if not all (as Tigar contends), of the factual bases for any cross-examination of Spain by Tigar were aired on the public record during the trial of Spain. And finally, Cunningham is willing to have Tigar's cross-examination of Spain limited to the matters disclosed in the record of the Spain trial. We see no reason why the interests of Spain cannot adequately be protected in these circumstances without the disqualification of Cunningham's counsel. 8 40 As to the right of Cunningham that the government states it seeks to protect, we see no reason why Cunningham is not entitled to make the waiver needed to ensure the protection of Spain's attorney-client privilege. We reject the government's contention that this right cannot be waived, see Armedo-Sarmiento, supra, and agree with the district court that in fact the right has preliminarily been waived. A sophisticated attorney and politician, Cunningham was questioned extensively by the district court, which concluded that he was capable and desirous of making an intelligent and knowing waiver of his right to have an attorney who has no conflicting interest. Cunningham has demonstrated that he adequately perceives the circumstances and that he is willing to have circumscribed whatever right he might otherwise have to a fuller cross-examination of Spain, in order to retain Tigar as his counsel. In the circumstances, if Cunningham's right to counsel of his choice conflicts with his right to an attorney of undivided loyalty, we think the choice as to which right is to take precedence should be left to Cunningham and not be dictated by the government. 41 Finally, as to the government's interest in avoiding any appearance of professional impropriety on the part of Tigar, we believe the integrity of the system is adequately preserved by the public record made in this case. The interests of the former client are to be protected to his satisfaction. The interests of Cunningham have been adequately protected by the determination that his waivers are knowing and intelligent. In these circumstances we believe the integrity of the system will best be served by not permitting the government to secure the disqualification of counsel who has represented Cunningham for such an extensive period. 42 Accordingly, we reverse the order of the district court disqualifying Tigar from representing Cunningham. The district court may take appropriate steps, including limiting cross-examination to matters of public record, to ensure that Tigar does not violate Spain's attorney-client privilege.