Chambers

By petition for writ of mandate plaintiffs seek relief from an order of the trial court granting defendants’ motion to disqualify plaintiffs’ law firm from further representing plaintiffs in the underlying action.

Confronting us is an issue of first impression in this state on vicarious disqualification of a former government employee’s current law firm. We view the issue in light of substantial countervailing policy concerns and conclude that vicarious disqualification under the facts of this case was unwarranted and an abuse of discretion.

On January 23, 1978, petitioners, Colleen and Alice Chambers, filed a complaint essentially alleging that defendants State of California (hereafter State) and County of Shasta so negligently serviced Route 151 that the road surface was in a dangerous, defective and unsafe condition, causing the car of defendant, Leslie Ann Kerns to collide with the car driven by plaintiff, Colleen Elizabeth Chambers with resulting injuries to Chambers.

On August 11, 1980, State moved to disqualify plaintiffs’ law firm, Memering & DeMers, on the ground a current member of the firm, Patrick J. Waltz, previously was employed by the State and possessed…