An Eastern District judge has affirmed a magistrate judge’s recommendation to disqualify Jenner & Block from representing Cablevision in a dispute with Verizon because the law firm once represented MCI, which is now Verizon Business, Inc.
Judge Carol Bagley Amon (See Profile) wrote in Cablevision Lightpath, Inc. v. Verizon New York Inc., 11-cv-2457, that Magistrate Judge Joan M. Azrack (See Profile) “did not clearly err” in August when she found that “a ‘substantial relationship’ exists between the subject matter of the prior representation and that of the current action. Nor did she clearly err if finding Jenner likely had access to relevant privileged information during its extensive representation of MCI.”
