Green v. Toledo Hospital

94 Ohio St. 3d 480
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedApril 3, 2002
DocketNos. 00-1625 and 00-1694
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 94 Ohio St. 3d 480 (Green v. Toledo Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Green v. Toledo Hospital, 94 Ohio St. 3d 480 (Ohio 2002).

Opinions

Pfeifer, J.

On October 16, 1982, Donald Costell died, allegedly as the result of negligence that occurred during and shortly after his May 12, 1982 heart surgery. Appellee and cross-appellant Dolores Green1 filed suit against appellants and cross-appellees, Dr. Robert P. Van Bergen, Dr. Harold Stevens, their respective professional organizations, and Toledo Hospital.

At trial in 1991, Green presented live testimony from an anesthesiologist, Dr. Phillip Fyman. ' The defense also presented live expert testimony from Dr. Michael Nugent, a cardiac anesthesiologist, who was cross-examined by Green. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found for the defendants. On appeal, the court of appeals reversed the judgment and remanded the cause for a new trial based on various evidentiary errors.

In January 1996, before the retrial, Green filed a motion to disqualify Dr. Stevens’s attorney, James R. Jeffery, and his law firm, Spengler Nathanson, L.L.P., because a secretary at the firm, Penelope Kreps, had previously been employed by Green’s attorney, E.J. Leizerman, as his secretary.

The trial court held an evidentiary hearing. Kreps testified that she did not have any confidences or secrets about the instant litigation to share with either Jeffery or his firm. She testified that she was not involved in trial preparation meetings or in assisting witnesses and that she had little to do with the case except for typing letters. Leizerman testified that Kreps was an integral part of the “trial team,” who was present during all client and witness conferences and at all strategy. He also testified that Kreps took notes and shared in discussions of the case. The trial court overruled the motion for disqualification.

At the second trial in November 1997, Green read the 1991 trial testimony of Dr. Fyman into the record. There was no objection from the defense. However, when the defense attempted to read the 1991 trial testimony of Dr. Nugent into the record, Green objected, stating that the testimony could not be read without adequate proof of unavailability under Evid.R. 804(B)(1).

The defense countered that Civ.R. 32 provided an exception for doctors. See Civ.R. 32(A)(3)(e). Green did not dispute that the witness was a physician within the exception, only that there was inadequate proof submitted to the court of the witness’s unavailability under the hearsay rule. The trial court found Civ.R. 32 applicable and that Dr. Nugent was “unavailable,” overruled Green’s objection, and allowed Dr. Nugent’s testimony to be read into the record.

[483]*483At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found for the defense. Green appealed, claiming that attorney Jeffrey should have been disqualified and that Dr. Nugent’s testimony should not have been read into the record. The court of appeals upheld the denial of the motion to disqualify attorney Jeffrey but reversed the trial court’s allowance of Dr. Nugent’s testimony. The court of appeals remanded the cause for a new trial.

The cause is now before this court upon the certification of a conflict and upon the allowance of a discretionary appeal and cross-appeal.

I

The first issue to be determined is whether the trial court properly denied Green’s motion to disqualify James Jeffery, the attorney for appellee and cross-appellant Dr. Harold Stevens. Green contends that Jeffery should be disqualified because his secretary, Penelope Kreps, formerly worked for E.J. Leizerman, the attorney for Green. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the motion to disqualify was properly denied.

In 1996, the trial court found that Jeffery should not be disqualified, applying the substantial relationship test set forth in Baker v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. (N.D.Ohio 1995), 893 F.Supp. 1349, 1364. Subsequent to the trial court’s ruling, we held in Kala v. Aluminum Smelting & Refining Co., Inc. (1998), 81 Ohio St.3d 1, 688 N.E.2d 258, syllabus:

“In ruling on a motion for disqualification of either an individual (primary disqualification) or the entire firm (imputed disqualification) when an attorney has left a law firm and joined a firm representing the opposing party, a court must hold an evidentiary hearing and issue findings of fact using a three-part analysis:

“(1) Is there a substantial relationship between the matter at issue and the matter of the former firm’s prior representation;

“(2) If there is a substantial relationship between these matters, is the presumption of shared confidences within the former firm rebutted by evidence that the attorney had no personal contact with or knowledge of the related matter; and

“(3) If the attorney did have personal contact with or knowledge of the related matter, did the new law firm erect adequate and timely screens to rebut a presumption of shared confidences with the new firm so as to avoid imputed disqualification?”

Because Kreps is a legal secretary and not an attorney, we find Kala instructive but distinguishable. A crucial element of the Kala test is missing [484]*484here. Specifically, we hold that the presumption of shared confidences that is at the core of Kala is inappropriate for nonattorneys. See In re Complex Asbestos Litigation (1991), 232 Cal.App.3d 572, 592-593, 283 Cal.Rptr. 732; Stewart v. Bee-Dee Neon & Signs, Inc. (Fla.App.2000), 751 So.2d 196. Many, if not most, nonattorneys at a law firm are not regularly exposed to confidential information about clients and their cases. Further, to expose nonattorneys to the same presumption as attorneys would unfairly taint them and make it more difficult for them to change employment. The California court in Complex Asbestos Litigation referred to such tainted nonattorneys as “Typhoid Marys.” Id., 232 Cal. App.3d at 596, 283 Cal.Rptr. at 746. Nonattorneys seeking employment with a lawyer or law firm in sparsely populated towns and counties would be especially hard hit by the presumption because their former employment would raise the specter of disqualification. Thus, the Kala three-prong test does not apply in determining whether an attorney should be disqualified because his or her nonattorney employee was formerly employed by an attorney or firm representing an opposing party.

In cases involving nonattorney employees, the party moving for disqualification may not rely on any initial presumption, but instead must present evidence that the former employee has been exposed to confidential information in the relevant case. Once such, evidence has been presented, the court must hold an evidentiary hearing in which the party moving for disqualification has the burden of proving that the nonattorney has been exposed to relevant confidential matters. Once this showing has been made, a presumption then arises that the information has been disclosed to the current employer. This presumption may be rebutted by showing that the challenged attorney’s law firm has put in place sufficient screening procedures to ensure nondisclosure, and that those procedures have been followed in this case.

We hold that in ruling on a motion to disqualify a lawyer based on that lawyer’s employment of a nonattorney once employed by the lawyer representing an opposing party, a court must use the following analysis:

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Bluebook (online)
94 Ohio St. 3d 480, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-toledo-hospital-ohio-2002.