Opinion ID: 375619
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Irreparable Harm Requirement

Text: 17 To qualify for collateral appeal the order must be such that its review cannot, in the nature of the question that it presents, await final judgment because When that time comes, it will be too late effectively to review the . . . order and rights conferred . . . will have been lost, probably irreparably. Cohen v. Beneficial Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 546, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 1225, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1948); see 9 Moore's Federal Practice P 110.10 at 133. To defer review of the motion to disqualify the class counsel here until the end of the litigation does not make appeal an empty rite nor cause rights to be irretrievably lost. The party's claim that the class attorney should have been disqualified is, in effect, a claim that the class was not adequately represented. And the requirement that the class be adequately represented is reviewable on appeal from a final judgment. North American Acceptance v. Arnall, Golden & Gregory, 593 F.2d 642, 645 (5th Cir. 1979). If, after post trial review, a conflict of interest is found, then the adequacy of representation requirement for class certification will not have been met and the appropriate remedy is to decertify the class. North American Acceptance v. Arnall, Golden & Gregory, 593 F.2d 642, 645 (5th Cir. 1979) (trial court may enter a remedial order or decertify the class). No rights of the class are irreparably lost by postponed review. 18 Kimberly-Clark contends that it will suffer harm if review is delayed. We find no merit in this contention because we cannot see what harm will result from these attorneys proceeding against Kimberly-Clark. As class attorneys representing Kimberly-Clark as an absent class member, they have not been privy to any confidential information; a fortiori, they can reveal none to the detriment of Kimberly-Clark. See Akerly v. Red Barn Systems, Inc., 551 F.2d 539, 544 (3d Cir. 1977). In International Business Machine Corp. v. Levin, 579 F.2d 271, 280, 281 (3d Cir. 1978), this court did not require that a specific deleterious effect be identified; the mere possibility of real harm to a client sufficed to prevent his attorney from proceeding against him in an unrelated matter. Here, Kimberly-Clark has even failed to hypothesize any harm which may inure to it. Further, the absolute lack of prior communication prevents any harm from materializing. Kimberly-Clark alleges that it would like to assume active participation in the two actions in which it is an absent class member, but that it is prevented from so doing because it cannot reveal information to these attorneys. The class attorneys, however, are under court orders not to communicate with any absent class members. Kimberly-Clark had evinced no desire to participate in those actions prior to being named a defendant here. On balance we agree with the district court that Kimberly-Clark's interests, amounting to more than $90,000,000, are sufficient to permit it to retain separate counsel if it wants to participate in the two other litigations. Although this solution imposes a slight burden on Kimberly-Clark, it would be minimal when compared to the prejudice which would result to thousands of class members here if their counsel, who brought this complex litigation to the point of settlement or trial, were disqualified. Opinion of district court at p. 7. Based on these facts, we cannot see an appearance of impropriety that would constitute irreparable harm such as to undermine the public's confidence in the Bar. Richardson v. Hamilton International Corporation, 469 F.2d 1382, 1385-86 (3d Cir. 1972). Thus, Kimberly-Clark has not shown that irreparable harm will accrue if we delay review. 19 Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed for want of an appealable order.