Niesig v. Team I
Court of Appeals of New York
558 N.E.2d 1030 (1990)
Niesig (plaintiff) sued Team I (defendant) for construction-site injuries, and Team I impleaded Niesig's employer, DeTrae Enterprises. Niesig sought leave to privately interview DeTrae employees who may have witnessed the accident, but DeTrae objected that all its employees fell within the scope of representation by its counsel, making direct contact by Niesig's attorney improper under New York's ethics rules; an intermediate appellate court agreed with DeTrae's broad view and denied Niesig's motion, and Niesig sought further review.
Whether the ethical prohibition on opposing counsel's direct contact with a corporate party's employees extends to all employees of that corporation, or only to those whose acts or omissions could affect the corporation's legal status in the litigation.