City of San Diego v. United States District Court for Southern District

ORDER

The City of San Diego (“City”) petitions for a writ of mandamus to challenge the district court’s order disqualifying the City’s counsel, the law firm of Tatro Tekosky Sadwick L.L.P. (“TTS”), from representing it pursuant to a contingent fee agreement. We grant the petition.

Because a writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, we have developed five factors that cabin our power to grant the writ: (1) the party seeking the writ has no other adequate means, such as a direct appeal, to attain the relief he or she desires; (2) the petitioner will be damaged or prejudiced in a way not correctable on appeal; (3) the district court’s order is clearly erroneous as a matter of law; (4) the district court’s order is an oft-repeated error, or manifests a persistent disregard of the federal rules; and (5) the district court’s order raises new and important problems, or issues of law of first impression. Bauman v. U.S. Dist. Court, 557 F.2d 650, 654-55 (9th Cir.1977). The third factor is a necessary condition for granting a writ of mandamus. Executive Software N. Am., Inc. v. U.S. Dist. Court, 24 F.3d 1545 ,1551 (9th Cir.1994), overruled on other grounds by Cal. Dep’t of Water Res.…