Eastman Kodak Co. v. Sony Corp.
United States District Court for the Western District of New York
2004 WL 2984297 (2004)
Law firm Woods (defendant's counsel), which had long avoided representing Kodak (plaintiff), inherited Kodak as a client when Kodak acquired Woods's existing client Heidelberg, including two pending employment-discrimination suits Woods was handling for Heidelberg. A Woods partner then began representing Sony (defendant) and another client adverse to Kodak in separate proceedings, and when Kodak demanded the partner withdraw, Woods instead offered to withdraw from the Heidelberg matters; Kodak rejected that offer and moved to disqualify the Woods partner from both adverse proceedings.
Whether, in a conflict of interest between two current clients, an attorney may avoid disqualification from representing a preferred client by merely ceasing representation of the disfavored client over the disfavored client's objections.