Ethics 101: Please Take The Course

Beyond amazing and into disbelief. The names are omitted and the case is presented in the form of a hypothetical.

Plaintiff sued Defendant who was defended by attorney AP. When AP failed to respond to discovery requests, the trial court ordered terminating sanctions against Defendant.  Defendant then retained new counsel in the case, but the trial court still entered default judgment against Defendant. Defendant appealed.

While Defendant’s appeal was pending, Attorney AP purchased Plaintiff’s interest in the suit. Attorney AP sought to substitute himself for Plaintiff in the appeal and to be represented by another lawyer in his firm. By this time, Defendant was also suing Attorney AP for malpractice. The appellate court denied the motion to substitute into Plaintiff’s position on the appeal because doing so would violate the Rules of Professional Conduct and Attorney AP’s fiduciary duties to Defendant.

The court held that by switching sides, Attorney AP would be violating his duty to safeguard client confidences. The court also held that Attorney AP’s violation of “a myriad of ethical duties” would undermine public confidence in the legal system. Yes, it would.  

John M. Hanamirian