Jorgensen

Appellant Taco Bell Corp. (Taco Bell) contends the trial court abused its discretion by denying Taco Bell’s motion to disqualify the counsel for plaintiff Noelle Jorgensen (Jorgensen). Jorgensen’s counsel had retained an investigator to interview witnesses concerning facts relevant to Jorgensen’s claims of sexual harassment, before her lawsuit against Taco Bell and one of its employees was filed. Taco Bell contends these interviews with its employees violated rule 2-100 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct (rule 2-100), because counsel for Taco Bell was not informed of the interviews, and they constituted attempts to interview parties without the consent of their counsel. Jorgensen and her counsel contend they did not violate rule 2-100 because no lawsuit had been filed at the time of the interviews, and neither the employees of Taco Bell nor Taco Bell itself were parties represented by counsel at the time of the interviews. We agree, and conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to disqualify.

I. Facts and Procedural History

Jorgensen is a former employee of Taco Bell. She filed this action in June 1995, alleging that she…