In re Dresser Industries, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
972 F.2d 540 (1992)
Susman and his firm Susman Godfrey (Godfrey) served as lead plaintiffs' counsel in a class action accusing Dresser Industries (Dresser) (plaintiff) of price-fixing, while simultaneously representing Dresser itself as a client in two unrelated pending lawsuits; Godfrey disclosed the conflict to Dresser and offered to help transition those two matters to new counsel if replaced, but Dresser instead chose to keep Godfrey in those matters and was later added as a defendant in the price-fixing case. Dresser moved to disqualify Godfrey from the price-fixing case; the district court denied the motion, finding no legal or factual relationship between the cases, and Dresser sought a writ of mandamus.
Whether a law firm may concurrently represent a plaintiff suing a current client in one matter, while also representing that same client in separate, unrelated matters, without the client's consent to the concurrent representation.