Loyalty Trumps Mobility In New Mexico Decision

In a case of first impression, the New Mexico Supreme Court has held that disqualification is mandatory when an associate who played a ‘substantial role” in litigation and possesses confidential information moves to a firm involved in the litigation against her former client.

Both the moving associate and her new firm are barred from further representation.

The court noted that it had adopted a more restricted version of Rule 1.11than the ABA Model Rule, and that its rule does not permit screening to prevent imputed disqualification.

While the rule may have a chilling consequence for lawyer mobility, the court emphasized that the public policy considerations that underpin the loyalty to clients justifies the result:

In the practice of law, there is no higher duty than one’s loyalty to a client.

(Mike Frisch)