 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Classified Postings in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
BERGERON v. MACKLER4/20/1993
This is a writ of error from an order of the Superior Court granting the request of the
defendant in error (defendant), Violet Mackler, to disqualify counsel for the plaintiffs in error (plaintiffs), Michael Bergeron, James Downey and Michail Campbell. The plaintiffs claim that the trial court improperly disqualified the law firm of Tarlow, Levy & Droney, P.C. (firm), from representing them as nonparty witnesses in a marital dissolution action relying on the firm's previous representation of the defendant in a residential house closing. The plaintiffs claim that the trial court improperly relied upon the "appearance of impropriety" standard when it disqualified the firm from representing them without addressing the relationship between the prior and the present representation. We agree and reverse the judgment of the trial court.
The record discloses the following facts. The plaintiffs are three subpoenaed witnesses in the underlying dissolution action known as Mackler v. Mackler, Superior Court, judicial district of Hartford-New Britain at Hartford, Docket No. FA-90-0373964-S. Philip Mackler (Mackler), the defendant's husband, is an officer and the sole director and shareholder of Bell Food Services, Inc. (Bell Food), and is the president, a director and the majority shareholder of Bell Amusement, Inc. (Bell Amusement). At the time in question, the plaintiffs were business associates of Mackler through either Bell Food or Bell Amusement.
The firm has represented Mackler, Bell Food and Bell Amusement in various matters, and both corporations have normally employed no other counsel. In 1988, the firm represented Mackler and the defendant in connection with the purchase of a house in Glastonbury. The firm has at no other time represented the defendant.
The defendant commenced a dissolution action against Mackler. Although the Glastonbury house was one of the marital assets subject to division in the dissolution action, it was not the focus of additional dispute. During the dissolution action, the defendant noticed the deposition of the plaintiffs, and the
plaintiffs filed a motion for a protective order through their counsel, Attorney Houston P. Lowry, who was then a member of the firm. The defendant filed a motion for a hearing regarding the protective order and, as part of that motion, requested that the firm be disqualified from representing the plaintiffs because the firm had represented the defendant and her husband when they had purchased the Glastonbury house.
At a hearing before the trial court, Lowry explained that the only connection the firm had with the defendant was with regard to the house closing. He also stated that the firm had never represented Mackler in connection with the dissolution action, but that it had represented Mackler and the plaintiffs in previous litigation and as general counsel for Bell Foods and Bell Amusement. Counsel for Mackler argued that Lowry's representation of the plaintiffs as officers of Bell Food and Bell Amusement regarding their motion for a protective order had no relation to the firm's past representation of the defendant and therefore did not warrant disqualification.
The trial court ruled that the firm must be disqualified from the case because of the appearance of impropriety arising from the firm's representation of the plaintiffs. In reaching this conclusion, the trial court relied heavily on the defendant's perception that there was some conflict because of Mackler's prior association both with the firm and with the plaintiffs. The trial
court also relied on the rationale of Cleland v. Cleland, 35 Conn. Sup. 215, 404 A.2
Page 1 2 3 4 Connecticut Classifieds
Classified Postings
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Classified Postings in your area.
|
|