Faughn

Plaintiffs appeal from an order disqualifying Marshall Silberberg (Attorney Silberberg) from representing them in their lawsuit, which alleges that the negligence of defendant Bakersfield Memorial Hospital injured plaintiff Katie Faughn during her birth. The superior court granted Bakersfield Memorial Hospital’s motion to disqualify Attorney Silberberg, pursuant to State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct, rule 3-310(E), on the ground that he had “formerly represented Catholic Healthcare West, parent corporation of Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, in litigated matters that bear a substantial relationship to those matters that are embraced in the present litigation, and is presumed to have acquired confidential information” by virtue of the former representation.

Plaintiffs argue that the record does not contain sufficient evidence to support the determination that Attorney Silberberg’s prior representation of corporate affiliates of Bakersfield Memorial Hospital was substantially related to his representation of plaintiffs in this case. We conclude that Bakersfield Memorial Hospital’s motion to disqualify relied too heavily on inferences about facts that were within its…