Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Vigman
United States District Court for the Central District of California
587 F.Supp. 1358 (1984)
Former SEC attorneys Boltz and Hartman, who had filed 1973 suits alleging fraudulent stock manipulation involving DCS Financial (later merged into Bunnington Corporation), left government service and later led their new firm's 1983 representation of SIPC (plaintiff) in a substantially similar stock-manipulation and RICO suit against Vigman, Bunnington, and dozens of others (defendants); two defendants moved to disqualify Boltz and Hartman under Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.11(a), and the SEC declined to consent to their continued representation.
Whether Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.11(a) prohibits a private attorney from representing a litigant in a matter substantially similar to one the attorney previously handled as a government employee.