Saturday, April 13, 2013

Fiandaca v. Cunningham case brief

Fiandaca v. Cunningham case brief summary
827 F.2d 825 (1st Cir. 1987)

Plaintiff class residing at state facility challenged a judgment by the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, which denied their motion to intervene in action filed by plaintiff inmates against defendant prison officials in their action for failure to establish a facility with programs and facilities equivalent to those provided to male inmates. Defendants challenged the refusal to disqualify plaintiff inmate's counsel.

OVERVIEW: The court considered on consolidated appeal the denial of plaintiff class residing at state facility's motion to intervene in action between plaintiff inmates and defendant prison officials. The action challenged defendants' failure to establish a facility with programs and facilities equivalent to those provided to male inmates. Defendant's sought review of the denial of their motion to disqualify plaintiff inmates' counsel.

HOLDING:
The court reversed the denial of defendants' motion to disqualify plaintiff inmates' counsel as they also represented interests of plaintiff class in an ongoing litigation.

ANALYSIS:
The court found the district court abused its discretion, as there was an unresolvable conflict between the interests of two clients, which were directly adverse. The court found there was no true necessity to allow counsel to remain and it was contrary to Code of Professional Responsibility. The court reversed the denial of plaintiff class's motion to intervene under Fed. R. Civ. P. 24 as a right upon timely application as they had an interest related to the subject of proceedings, and the disposition of that action could have impaired or impeded their ability to protect interest.

OUTCOME: The court reversed the denial of plaintiff class residing at facility's motion to intervene in plaintiff inmates' action against defendant prison officials for failure to establish a facility with programs and facilities equivalent to those provided male inmates as trial court abused its discretion. The court reversed the denial of defendants' motion to disqualify plaintiff inmates' counsel for conflict of interest.

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