Murray v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
583 F.3d 173 (2009)
The law firm Debevoise & Plimpton represented Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) during its 2000 demutualization, converting the company from policyholder ownership to stockholder ownership; shortly after, MetLife policyholders sued MetLife alleging securities-law violations in how the demutualization was disclosed, with Debevoise serving as MetLife's lead defense counsel. Seven years into that litigation, after MetLife sought a protective order over attorney-client communications, the trial court reasoned the policyholders had themselves been Debevoise's clients during the demutualization because they owned the mutual company at that time, and denied the protective order; shortly before trial, the policyholders moved to disqualify Debevoise from representing MetLife on the theory that Debevoise had improperly switched sides against its own former clients, and the trial court, applying the same reasoning, disqualified the firm.
Whether a lawyer retained or employed by an organization has an attorney-client relationship with the organization only, and not with the organization's constituents.