E. JOHN JENKINS AND ANCHOR INSURANCE OF FORT WALTON BEACH, INC., PETITIONERS,
v.
HARRIS INSURANCE, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION AND C.W. HARRIS, RESPONDENTS
ERVIN, Judge.
E. John Jenkins and Anchor Insurance of Fort Walton Beach, Inc., filed a petition for writ of certiorari, contending that the trial court erred in granting a motion to disqualify petitioners’ counsel, which was filed by respondents, Harris Insurance, Inc., and C.W. Harris. We agree. The evidence respondents submitted wholly failed to establish either that there is a substantial relationship between matters in the case at bar and those in the prior litigation, or that petitioners’ counsel had access to any information during the former representation that would disadvantage respondents in the current action. See Ford v. Piper Aircraft Corp., 436 So. 2d 305 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983), review denied, 444 So. 2d 417 (Fla.1984); Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stansbury, 374 So. 2d 1051 (Fla. 5th DCA 1979); Fla.R.Reg. Fla.Bar 4-1.9.
Because the order of disqualification constitutes a clear departure from the essential requirements of the law, we grant the petition, quash the order of disqualification, and remand the case for further consistent proceedings.
WIGGINTON and MINER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Kenn AIR Corp. v. Gainesville-Alachua Cnty. Reg'l Airport Auth., 593 So. 2d 1219 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)…appeal will be inadequate. Ford Motor Co. v. Edwards, 363 So. 2d 867, 869 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). Orders granting or denying motions to disqualify a party’s attorney may be appropriately reviewed by certiorari. See, e.g., Jenkins v. Harris Ins., Inc., 572 So. 2d 1011 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991); Campbell v. American Pioneer Sav. Bank, 565 So. 2d 417 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); Ford v. Piper Aircraft Corp., 436 So. 2d 305 (Fla. 5th [*1222] DCA 1983), review denied, 444 So. 2d 417 (Fla.1984); Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stansbury, 3…
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Donnie E. Eplee v. Eplee, 722 So. 2d 277 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…at the matters embraced in the pending suit are substantially related to the matters or cause of action wherein the attorney previously represented him, the former client. (Citations omitted). Applying that standard in Jenkins v. Harris Ins., Inc., 572 So. 2d 1011 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), this court granted a petition for certiorari upon finding that the disqualification of the party’s counsel was not warranted where there was no evidence of a substantial relationship between the matters in the case at bar and th…
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Christensen v. Correa, 673 So. 2d 145 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)…nsen’s right to choose counsel was [*147] unreasonably violated, I respectfully dissent from the decision to deny the petition for wit of certiorari. Cf. Broward Bank v. Sammons, 632 So. 2d 733 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); Jenkins v. Harris Insurance, Inc., 572 So. 2d 1011 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991).…
Authorities Cited
- Sears v. Stansbury, 374 So. 2d 1051 (Fla. 5th DCA 1979)
- Ford v. Piper Aircraft Corp., 436 So. 2d 305 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983)