Court Opinion

ID: 9797186
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 04:14:51.977721+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:52:59.680001
License: Public Domain

Maupin, C. J.,
concurring:
This is indeed a close case. As noted by the majority, Insurance Company of the West (ICW) waited two years after appreciating the perceived conflict before formally seeking disqualification. One can understand the firm’s intransigence in refusing to voluntarily withdraw based upon a good faith belief that it held no confidential information that could compromise ICW’s defense in the bad faith litigation. But, because the issue is close, and because the district court could reasonably conclude that ICW’s former insurance defense counsel gained some knowledge generally about ICW’s internal claims policies, I cannot conclude that the district court manifestly abused its discretion in its ruling of disqualification.