Brennan's, Inc. v. Brennan's Restaurants, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
590 F.2d 168 (5th Cir. 1979)
Attorney Edward Wegmann represented both Brennan's, Inc. and Brennan's Restaurants, Inc. (plaintiff and defendant), two restaurant companies owned by different branches of the same family, obtaining trademarks for both before the family split the companies between them without ever deciding which company would keep the trademarks. Wegmann later severed ties with Brennan's, Inc. and represented only Brennan's Restaurants when Brennan's, Inc. sued for trademark infringement, also bringing in patent attorney Arnold Sprung to help defend the case. Brennan's, Inc. moved to disqualify both Wegmann and Sprung, and the district court granted the motion; the defendant appealed.
Whether an attorney's ethical duty to preserve a former client's confidences is a broader obligation than the attorney-client evidentiary privilege, such that it can require disqualification even without proof of specific confidential secrets being exposed.