Opinion ID: 2549623
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Application to case at bar

Text: As to Baker, the record supports the district court's finding that she did not obtain confidential information about Steven's case while employed by ES. At most, the record reflects she had access to Steven's files because she worked in the ES office and she could have typed something for attorney Kainen when he performed some services for Steven. Given our clarification of Ciaffone, we conclude the district court did not err in refusing to disqualify DDCP. Turning to Magalianes and applying the factors identified above, the record reflects that Magalianes worked in the domestic division of DDCP for approximately one month of the time that DDCP handled the Leibowitz matter. During that period, she did perform work on Deena's case. She spoke with Deena, and the district court findings infer that she may have received some confidential information during the conversation. The district court did not resolve the factual dispute over Magalianes' presence at the Memorial Day custody conference; however, for purposes of our analysis, we assume that she was present. The affidavits of Deena's counsel however, do not clearly establish that Magalianes was privy to any confidential information. It appears that much of the conference involved telephone conversations with opposing counsel as the attorneys attempted to reach a resolution on visitation that both parties could accept. It is clear that the only subject of the conference was the Memorial Day visitation. Almost two years elapsed between the conclusion of Magalianes' involvement with the Leibowitz case until the time of her employment by ES. ES is a small firm, and, finally, the old and new firms represent adverse parties in the same proceeding. Balancing Deena's interest in preventing possible disclosure of confidential information [30] with Steven's interest in retaining the attorney who has represented him for over two years, and the entirety of the divorce proceedings, we conclude that ES should not be disqualified. Magalianes' contacts with Deena were brief and, according to the record, consisted mainly of routine information with some possible confidential information. The issues relating to the Memorial Day weekend have long since been resolved, and there is no indication in the record that any confidential information discussed at that conference related to anything but the weekend custody dispute. Although ES is a small firm, there is no evidence that Magalianes would be, by the nature of the firm, forced to work on the Leibowitz matter. Moreover, given the length of time ES represented Steven, the fact that a final judgment has been issued and Magalianes' involvement occurred early in the proceedings, the public's interest in the administration of justice is not significantly impacted in this case. Finally, Steven would suffer extreme prejudice if he had to retain a new attorney this late in the proceedings, and disqualification is not merited given Magalianes' marginal involvement with the matter while employed with DDCP. [31]