Court Allows Insurer’s Conflict Suit Against Sheppard Mullin
A state anti-SLAPP law does not protect Sheppard Mullin from a former client’s suit alleging the law firm should be tossed from litigation because of a conflict of interest, a California appeals court has ruled.
The suit by U.S. Fire Insurance Co. seeks to bar Sheppard Mullin from representing an informal committee of asbestos creditors seeking insurer payouts, according to the Daily Journal (sub. req.). Sheppard Mullin previously represented U.S. Fire in different asbestos claims in 2001.
Sheppard Mullin had claimed it had created an ethical wall separating attorneys working on the present case from information derived in the earlier representation. The firm also argued that it was protected under a state law discouraging strategic lawsuits against public participation—known as SLAPP suits.
But the California appeals court disagreed with Sheppard Mullin on the SLAPP claim and allowed the lawsuit to proceed, the story says. The Metropolitan News-Enterprise also covered the ruling.
