Judge Timothy Lawliss
Husband sought to modify this court’s order of support regarding the parties’ son. He was represented before a support magistrate by attorney Gallant. Wife was represented by attorney Scaglione. The magistrate granted husband’s application for a downward modification of his child support obligations. Wife and Scaglione filed objections, and Gallant replied to the objections. Both attorneys were assistant county attorneys for Essex county. The court was concerned about the attorneys’ potential conflict of interest. Gallant noted that both attorneys’ duties included representing a parent when asked by the Child Support Enforcement Unit (CSEU), but stated no attorney-client relationship existed with the parties. The court disagreed finding the words and actions of each attorney created an attorney-client relationship between them and the litigants each was supposed to assist, regardless of the attorneys’ intent. It concluded the two assistant county attorneys charged with representing CSEU could not assist two litigants in the same action when the two litigants had directly opposing interests. Hence, the court vacated the magistrate’s order, remanded the matter for a new hearing, and disqualified Gallant and Scaglione from representing either party or the CSEU upon remand.
