Court Opinion

ID: 9709732
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 03:53:44.504128+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:50.634990
License: Public Domain

NIX, Justice,
dissenting.
I agree with the conclusion of Justice Hutchinson that we should not have entertained a review of this uncertified interlocutory order for substantially the reasons set forth in his dissent. Moreover, if we must consider the matter upon the record before us, I find no basis to justify the exclusion of the members of the law firm to which Mr. Levinson presently belongs.
There is serious question in this record as to whether Mr. Levinson personally has played any role in the representation of the appellees in this case. It is conceded that there is no evidence of an actual conflict which would in any way prejudice the appellant in the trial of this litigation. What is being charged is that Mr. Levinson’s former position as Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia creates an appearance of impropriety which offends Cannon 9 of the Code of Professional Responsibility.1 Even if we were to accept the majority’s premise that a violation of Canon 9 has been established on this record,2 that violation does not *509warrant the creation of a per se rule requiring the automatic disqualification of a law firm of which the violator may fortuitously be a member, without some showing that the continued representation of the firm either gives an unseemly advantage to one side or an unfair disadvantage to the other.
The underlying litigation involves intricate issues of law and hotly contested questions of fact arising from a relationship between the parties which involves a protracted intertwined set of circumstances and spans a substantial period of time. During much of this period this law firm has represented the appellees and is presently intimately acquainted with the issues of fact and law that must be resolved. At this juncture, to force the withdrawal of counsel and to require one side to seek new and unfamiliar representation in the heat of the legal controversy, seriously offends the right of a party to have effective counsel of their choice. This is particularly true where the order of removal of counsel is mandated by a per se rule and is not dictated by the equities of the situation.3
The majority attempts to support its creation of this new per se rule of absolute disqualification solely by reliance upon an Opinion in Support of Affirmance in a decision where the Court was equally divided as to the question of the disqualification of the firm. Commonwealth v. Eastern Dawn Mobile Home Park, Inc., 486 Pa. 326, 405 A.2d 1232 (1979).4 In that decision I shared the view of those *510who determined that disqualification was not required, Id., 486 Pa. at 833, 405 A.2d at 1235; I am still not convinced of the wisdom of the contrary position. While we at all cost must maintain a perception of propriety, we should not indulge in an overfastidous application of our rules, thereby creating an unfairness where none previously existed.5 Accord, Siebert, et al. v. Bird, et al., No. 38 W.D. Allocatur Dkt. 1983 (filed 4/1/83, Nix, J., dissenting, joined by McDermott, J.).
Since the majority today appears bent upon establishing a new per se rule, it is appropriate to note that such a requirement goes far beyond the requirement of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct proposed by the American Bar Association and presently under consideration for adoption by this Court.6 It is to be noted that Rule 1.11(a) of those Model Rules does not require the automatic and absolute disqualification of the firm mandated by the majority.
I am therefore compelled to dissent.

. Canon 9 provides:
A lawyer should avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

. Disciplinary Rule 9-101(B) provides:
*509A lawyer should not accept private employment in a matter in which he had substantial responsibility while he was a public employee.

. If there has been an ethical violation, as is claimed, it can be adequately handled under our rules of disciplinary enforcement. Such a disposition is not only appropriate, Pa.R.D.E. 201 and 203, but would not unfairly prejudice the litigant who is not in any way responsible for any alleged misconduct.

. An equally divided Court does not establish precedent for either side of the issue. See Roberts, The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania: Constitutional Government In Action, 54 Temp.L.Q. 403 (1981). See also, Bata v. Central-Penn National Bank of Philadelphia, 448 Pa. 355, 373, 293 A.2d 343, 353 (1972).

. The Opinion in Support of Reversal in Eastern Dawn stressed that a per se absolute disqualification based solely upon an allegation of the appearance of impropriety is an affront to “our adversarial system of dispute resolution”. Id., 486 Pa. at 334, 405 A.2d at 1236.

. Rule 1.11(a) of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct states:
RULE 1.11 Successive Government and Private Employment
(a) Except as law may otherwise expressly permit, a lawyer shall not represent a private client in connection with a matter in which the lawyer participated personally and substantially as a public officer or employee, unless the appropriate government agency consents after consultation. No lawyer in a firm with which that lawyer is associated may knowingly undertake or continue representation in such a matter unless:
(1) the disqualified lawyer is screened from any participation in the matter and is apportioned no part of the fee therefrom; and
(2) written notice is promptly given to the appropriate government agency to enable it to ascertain compliance with the provisions of this Rule.