Opinion ID: 389571
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Merits of this Case.

Text: 55 We now consider whether it was obvious that Kobin & Meyer could adequately represent each of its clients in this instance. As a preliminary matter, we must decide whether the findings of fact made by the district court may be relied upon in deciding whether it was obvious that Kobin & Meyer could provide adequate representation. The district court found that there was no substantial or close relationship between the subject matter of the Ace litigation and the subject matter of the Teeples & Thatcher litigation, and no evidence to justify a finding that Kobin & Meyer (had) any special insight or advantage arising on account of its representation of Jelco in the Ace case which would give to Teeples & Thatcher any unfair advantage over Jelco. These findings of fact are consistent with Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a). 56 Although the two actions arose out of the same construction contract between Jelco and Unified Sewerage, the nature of the cases is quite different. The action which Kobin & Meyer handled for Jelco involved only a narrow issue of contract interpretation. The issue was whether the use of a certain aeration equipment manufacturer constituted a change in Jelco's subcontract with Ace because Ace allegedly had to provide different and additional equipment than originally planned. The facts were virtually undisputed. 57 The action which Kobin & Meyer handled for Teeples & Thatcher and against Jelco involved the scheduling and sequencing of concrete work which was to be performed by Teeples & Thatcher for Jelco. Each party claimed that the other party delayed and interfered with its work. The only information furnished by Jelco to Kobin & Meyer in connection with the first action concerned the pre-bid proposals on aeration equipment and electrical work, project specifications for aeration work, the subcontract negotiations between Jelco and Ace, the shop drawings and submittals prepared by Ace and expert testimony relative to costs differentiations for electrical installations. We conclude that the district court's findings of fact are not clearly erroneous. 58 The next question this court must address is whether the district court abused its discretion in denying the motion to disqualify, given the above findings of fact. The appropriate standard for reviewing a district court's ruling on a motion for attorney disqualification is whether the ruling was an abuse of discretion. See Gas-a-Tron of Arizona v. Union Oil Co. of California, 534 F.2d 1322, 1325 (9th Cir. 1976). The rationale is that the primary responsibility for controlling the conduct of lawyers practicing before the district court lies with that court, not with us. Id.; see Trone v. Smith, 621 F.2d 994, 999 (9th Cir. 1980). 59 We find that the district court did not abuse its discretion. It is sufficiently obvious, for the purposes of the canon, that Kobin & Meyer could adequately represent both Jelco and Teeples & Thatcher in the several actions. The litigation in the two cases was quite different; one involved a question of contract interpretation and the other was a highly disputed factual claim concerning each party's performance. Although one umbrella contract covered each case, the individual contracts involved were quite different. As the findings of fact indicate, Kobin & Meyer did not have access to any specific information that would help Teeples & Thatcher prevail against Jelco (other than general information concerning the personality of a client, which is always helpful in later suits against that client). Jelco, fully advised by its regular counsel, was in a position to know all the risks it was taking in employing Kobin & Meyer. 60 We find no facts that suggest that Kobin & Meyer would be tempted to soft pedal the rights of one client in these cases so as not to jeopardize the position of another client. Nothing suggests that Kobin & Meyer had an incentive not to represent zealously the interests of each client in their respective cases. Accordingly, we find that it was as obvious as necessary that Kobin & Meyer could adequately represent Jelco and Teeples & Thatcher within the meaning of the canon. 61