Quinn Emanuel disqualified from wildfire litigation

The 2nd District Court of Appeal affirmed Wednesday a trial court's disqualification of a Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP attorney from representing plaintiffs in the Woolsey Fire cases, ruling he was privy to confidential information from conversations with defendant Southern California Edison Co.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William A. Highberger was correct in finding the utility disclosed confidential information to Quinn Emanuel partner Kenneth R. Chiate during a pitch meeting and subsequent communications involving counsel Hueston Hennigan LLP, the appeals court said. Those topics included material information about strategies for subrogation, settlements and challenging the doctrine of inverse condemnation, the court ruled.

"Substantial evidence supports findings that the relationship between [Edison] and [Quinn Emanuel] was direct and extensive, and that [Quinn Emanuel] provided legal advice to [Edison] in their prior communications," wrote Associate Justice Victoria M. Chavez for the three-judge panel. Associate Justices Judith Ashmann-Gerst and Brian M. Hoffstadt concurred.

Chiate, in his appeal, argued the information did not breach any confidentiality because it was already publicly available. But the court disagreed, ruling Quinn Emanuel did not establish that the utility disclosed all of the confidential information with Quinn Emanuel in court filings and other public disclosures such as with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Kristin Blake, et al v. Southern California Edison, B298151 (Cal. App. 2nd Dist., Jun 17, 2020).

"The trial court properly rejected that argument, noting that none of Quinn Emanuel's witnesses claimed, nor could they claim, that [Edison's] public disclosures encompassed the entirety of its confidential communications with [Quinn Emanuel]," according to the opinion.

Chiate said if left intact, the disqualification order "not only will deprive these fire victims of their choice of counsel in this case but will invite groundless disqualification motions in other cases," according to his appeal, which said Quinn Emanuel never represented Edison in any case.

Edison, which moved to disqualify Chiate, said his access to confidential information from previous contacts presumed there is a substantial relationship between the interactions and the Woolsey Fire cases. Th utility is facing thousands of claims via coordinated proceedings before Highberger, arguing its equipment sparked the December 2017 Thomas fire in which 280,000 acres burned in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

-- Justin Kloczko