Goldberg

Appellant Ilene Goldberg brought suit against respondents, her former employer Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. (Warner) and her former supervisor Edward Pierson, for wrongful termination. Goldberg claimed that she was discriminated against in the terms and conditions of her employment based on her gender, and terminated in retaliation for raising complaints about gender-based discrimination. Goldberg also claimed to have been terminated in retaliation for “blowing the whistle” on illegal conduct allegedly committed by Pierson, including practicing law without a license.

Goldberg moved to disqualify counsel for respondents, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP (MS&K). The ground for the motion was that six years earlier Goldberg had consulted with J. Eugene Salomon, a former partner with MS&K who had left the firm three years prior to the underlying lawsuit. The consultation involved Goldberg’s written contract with Warner. Respondents and MS&K established in opposition to the disqualification motion that the consultation had been brief and informal, and that no one else at MS&K had any knowledge concerning either the consultation or any confidential information imparted to…