DISQUALIFICATION

disqualification,n.1. Something  that  makes one ineligible; esp., a bias or conflict of  interest

that  prevents  a  judge  or  juror  from  impartially  hearing  a  case,  or  that  prevents  a  lawyer  from

representing a party. [Cases: Judges    39; Jury    97. C.J.S. Judges §§ 62, 98, 100–102, 107; Juries

§§ 225, 248, 370–373, 378–379, 398–399, 415, 417–418, 420.]

vicarious disqualification.Disqualification of all the lawyers in a firm or in an office because

one  of the lawyers is ethically  disqualified  from representing the  client at issue. — Also termed

imputed disqualification. [Cases: Attorney and Client    21.15. C.J.S. Attorney and Client § 164.]

“In   general,   disqualification   of   a   lawyer   from   representation,   at   least   in   multiple

client-conflict  scenarios,  means  disqualification  of  that  lawyer’s  entire  firm  from  the  same

representation. When a lawyer has been exclusively or chiefly responsible for the representation of

a client and that lawyer changes jobs, there is little question but that the imputed-disqualification

rule will apply to disqualify the new  firm  from representing the  opponent of the  first client. But

because lawyers often work for large organizations, … a question may arise about the application

of  the  imputation  rule  when  a  lawyer  has  left  employment  ….  If  the  lawyer  had  little  or  no

responsibility  in  the  first  organization  for  the  representation  or  if  the  lawyer  can  be  effectively

shielded from the representation in the new organization, or both, there may be no useful purpose

served by imputing the lawyer’s disqualification to the new organization ….” James E. Moliterno

& John M. Levy, Ethics of the Lawyer’s Work 151 (1993).

2. The act of making ineligible; the fact or condition of being ineligible. Cf. RECUSAL. —

disqualify,vb. [Blacks Law 8th]