Analytica, Inc. v. NPD Research, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
708 F.2d 1263 (1983)
Relevant factsFree
A law firm previously retained by NPD (defendant) to handle a confidential stock transfer, during which NPD shared detailed financial information, later represented Malec's new competing company Analytica (plaintiff) in an antitrust suit against NPD itself; the district court disqualified both the firm and its trial co-counsel and imposed monetary sanctions, and the firms appealed.
IssueFree
Whether a law firm's representation of a client in matters adversarial to a former client may give rise to an irrebuttable presumption that the firm obtained confidential information from the former client and will use that information against the former client's interests.