The hip disqualification case in the Am Law world involves Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which was in court Friday defending its right to represent Air Products and Chemicals in the company’s bid to acquire rival Airgas. Cravath did about $2 million worth of financing work for Airgas from 2001 through late 2009, and Airgas claims that work gave the firm access to confidential company information and creates a conflict worthy of disqualification.
A similar case is playing out in Fairfield County, Conn., where a hedge fund wants Blank Rome disqualified from representing a former fund partner who has sued the fund, claiming it owes him $67 million and wrongfully forced him out, court records show. The Stamford, Conn.-based fund, Camulos Capital, claims that Blank Rome was still representing it in various corporate matters at the same time as it began representing the disgruntled ex-partner, William Seibold, as Seibold prepared the lawsuit he eventually filed against Camulos in December in Delaware’s Chancery Court. Blank Rome claims that its attorney-client relationship with Camulos ended on July 6, when they finished some regulatory work related to an energy deal. The next day, Blank Rome notified Camulos that it had taken on a case (the Seibold matter) that would be adverse to the fund. The firm requested a conflicts waiver that would allow Blank Rome to represent Camulos in future corporate and regulatory matters, court records show. Blank Rome claims that Camulos never responded yes or no to the waiver request.
