San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority v. Aerojet-General Corp.

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISQUALIFY PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL

Defendant’s Motion to Disqualify Plaintiffs Counsel came on regularly for hearing before this Court on June 26, 2000. Defendant asserts that Plaintiff’s counsel, Tatro Coffino Zeavin Bloomgarden LLP (“TCZB”), should be disqualified because (1) a TCZB associate, Arthur Friedman, obtained “privileged” information from Defendant, and (2) the three TCZB attorneys in this case, René Tatro, Craig Bloomgar-den, and Juliet Markowitz, previously worked for another firm that represented Defendant. After considering the materials submitted by the parties, argument of counsel, and the case file, the Court DENIES Defendant’s motion.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Arthur Friedman.

From at least 1994 through May 1998, Friedman was employed by the firm of Hancock, Rothert & Bunshoft. In 1992, Defendant filed an action entitled Aerojet-General Corp. v. Fidelity & Casualty Co. of New York, et al. in Sacramento Superior Court. (Blumenstein Deck ¶ 2.) This action sought to enforce Defendant’s rights to insurance coverage for groundwater contamination detected in the San Gabriel Valley near Defendant’s facility in Azusa, California.…