Murray v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., No. 09-3716

In an action alleging fraud in connection with the demutualization of defendant life insurance company, disqualification of defense counsel on the ground that it represented defendant in the underlying demutualization is reversed where: 1) the firm did not have an attorney-client relationship with the policyholders by virtue of its representation of defendant in the transaction; and 2) plaintiffs failed to establish that the purported violation of the witness-advocate rule in this case would warrant disqualification.

Read Murray v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., No. 09-3716

Appellate Information

Argued: September 3, 2009

Decided: September 29, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Jacobs

Counsel

For Appellants:

Teresa Wynn Roseborough, Kevin S. Finnegan and Duncan J. Logan, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York, NY

For Appellees:

Jared B. Starnell and John C. Crow, Stamell & Schager, LLP, New York, NY