BRIAN GARNER, PETITIONER,
v.
REED SOMBERG, ET AL., RESPONDENTS
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Brian Garner sought certiorari review to disqualify attorney Reed Somberg from representing the guardian of Garner's wife based on an alleged prior attorney-client consultation. The court granted the petition, holding that once an attorney-client relationship is established, an irrefutable presumption of confidential disclosures arises, requiring disqualification without proof of what information was actually disclosed.
The court held that once an attorney-client relationship or consultation is established, an irrefutable presumption arises that confidences were disclosed during that relationship. Therefore, Garner did not need to reveal the contents of the telephone calls to meet the standard for disqualifying Somberg; the mere establishment of the prior consultation relationship was sufficient.
[1] An attorney-client relationship giving rise to an irrefutable presumption of disclosed confidences is established when a client consults an attorney with the view to prof…
[2] A presumption of disclosed confidences arises once an attorney-client relationship is shown to have existed, acknowledging the difficulty of proving that confidential inf…
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“once an attorney-client relationship is shown to have existed, that relationship gives "rise to an irrefutable presumption that confidences were disclosed during that relationship"”
Establishes the central legal principle that disqualification requires only proof of the prior relationship, not proof of actual confidential disclosures
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBrian Garner's wife Ana was severely injured in a 1994 automobile accident. Garner contacted several attorneys, including Reed Somberg, regarding a pe…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Attorney Disqualification cases and more on FLexlaw
Brian Gamer seeks certiorari review of an order that denied his motion to disqualify attorney Reed Somberg from representing the guardian of Gamer’s wife. For the reasons that follow, we grant the petition, quash the order under review, and direct the trial court to grant Gamer’s motion to disqualify Somberg.
Petitioner Brian Gamer is the husband of Ana Martinez Gamer, who was severely injured in an automobile accident in 1994. Gamer contacted a number of attorneys in connection with pursuing a personal injury action; he eventually selected the firm of Sheldon Sehlesinger. In May, 1995, attorney Reed Somberg filed on behalf of Mabel Martinez, Ana Martinez Gamer’s mother, a Petition to Determine Competency and a Petition for Appointment of Emergency Temporary Guardian. Neither petition listed Brian Gamer’s address; Brian Garner, Ana’s husband, never received notice of the hearing on the matter. The trial court appointed Mabel Martinez temporary guardian on May 25, 1995. That very same day, attorney Somberg demanded, that the Sehlesinger firm relinquish the personal injury file to his office.
On June 13, 1995, Brian Gamer moved to disqualify Reed Somberg, averring under oath that he had communicated with Som-berg on several occasions regarding the personal injury action, before deciding to hire the Sehlesinger firm. Gamer further averred that he had given Somberg personal, confidential information regarding himself and his relationship with his wife Ana.1
After thrice failing to appear, Somberg was directed by court order to appear for deposition. At that deposition, he denied that either he or any person in his office had ever spoken with Gamer. Gamer moved to compel Somberg to appear to answer questions certified from the deposition. Gamer produced telephone records that show that he had placed from his home phone, in November of 1994, at least three phone calls to Somberg’s office. One of those calls had lasted thirteen minutes. Somberg, a sole practitioner, again denied ever having spoken with Gamer, and at no point provided any alternative explanation for the phone records. The trial court found that the existence of the phone calls was undisputed, but that Gamer had failed to demonstrate that confidential information was provided in those calls.2
The trial court departed from the essential requirements of the law when it denied the motion to disqualify. In conflict-of-interest eases, once an attorney-client relationship is shown to have existed, that relationship gives “rise to an irrefutable presumption that confidences were disclosed during that relationship_” State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co. v. K.A.W., 575 So. 2d 630, 633 (Fla.1991).3 “The presumption acknowledges the difficulty of proving that confidential information useful to the attorney’s current client was given to the attorney.” Id. at 634.
The privilege that supports the irrefutable presumption “does not turn on the client actually hiring or engaging the attorney; it is enough if the client merely consulted the attorney ... ‘with the view to employing [the attorney] professionally * * although the attorney is not subsequently employed.’ ” Dean v. Dean, 607 So. 2d 494, 497 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), rev. dismissed, 618 So. 2d 208 (Fla.1993).
Accordingly, Gamer did not have to reveal the contents of the indisputably-made telephone calls to Somberg’s office in order to meet the standard required for the trial court to disqualify Somberg.
Petition for certiorari granted; order quashed; remanded to trial court with directions.
. Gamer also filed a Petition to Dismiss the Emergency Temporary Guardianship as fraudulent; that action remains pending in the circuit court.
. At the hearing, the court commented: "I still say I need some testimony to indicate to me what was said...."
. It is not disputed that the second prong of the test is met — that “the matter in which the law firm subsequently represented the interest adverse to the former client was the same or substantially related to the matter in which it represented the former client.” State Farm, 575 So. 2d at 633.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Gaton v. Health Coal., Inc., 745 So. 2d 510 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)…the courts have recognized an irrefutable presumption that confidences were disclosed. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. K.A.W., 575 So. 2d 630 (Fla.1991); Boca Investors Group, Inc. v. Potash, 728 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999); Garner v. Somberg, 672 So. 2d 852 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). We agree with HCI that for vicarious disqualification under rule 4-1.10(b), however, Gaton and Stiefel may not rely on this presumption. There must be a showing that the newly associated attorney acquired confidential information…
-
Boca Invs. Grp., Inc. v. Irwin Potash, 728 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)…relationship and thus an irrefutable presumption that confidences were disclosed — which would. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. K.A.W., 575 So. 2d 630 (Fla. 1991); Keir v. State, 152 Fla. 389, 11 So. 2d 886 (1943); see also Garner v. Somberg, 672 So. 2d 852 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). Because an evidentiary hearing is required to resolve this decisive issue, School Brd. of Broward Co. v. Polera Building Corp., 722 So. 2d 971 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999); see Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stansbury, 374 So. 2d 1051 (Fla. 5th…
-
Solomon v. Anne E. Dickison, M.D., 916 So. 2d 943 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)…the courts have recognized an irrefutable presumption that confidences were disclosed, State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. K.A.W., 575 So. 2d 630 (Fla.1991); Boca Investors Group, Inc. v. Potash, 728 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999); Garner v. Somberg, 672 So. 2d 852 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). We agree with HCI that for vicarious disqualification under rule 4-1.10(b), however, Gaton and Stiefel may not rely on this presumption. There must be a showing that the newly associated attorney acquired confidential information…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. K.A.W., 575 So. 2d 630 (Fla. 1991)
- Dean v. Dean, 607 So. 2d 494 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)