I rarely have time to post here, but this one caught my eye. What would be the
point of a disqualification clause if another lawyer in the same firm could
handle the litigation? In any event, isn’t the “representation” by the firm and
not the individual member or employee of the firm?
The very first Collaborative Commitment Agreement that we wrote some 25 years
ago said and continues to say, in substance:
Each lawyer named above, and any lawyer "in association" with that lawyer, is
forever disqualified from appearing as attorney of record for any party in this
proceeding for Dissolution of Marriage [= divorce] or in any other contested
Family Law matter related to this proceeding for Dissolution of Marriage
involving these parties, whether occurring before or after Judgment. This
disqualification shall survive the term of this Stipulation and Order. A lawyer
shall be deemed "in association" if, at any time during the pendency of this
proceeding for Dissolution of Marriage, that lawyer is the employer or employee
of, or co-employee with, or shares a relationship of independent contractor
status with, any lawyer named above.
Over to you,
George Richardson
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On Feb 2, 2016, at 10:49 AM, cpensoneau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [CollabLaw]
<CollabLaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Our signed Collaborative Practice Agreement does not specifically address
this issue, and I could not find a clear answer in the IACP Standards and
Ethics.
Can anyone direct me to a rule or other resource for a definitive answer as
to whether another attorney in my firm can handle a litigated divorce
subsequent to my representation of one party in the Collaborative process?
Thank you,
Cindy
