| Justinian Capital SPC v WestLB AG, N.Y. Branch |
| 2011 NY Slip Op 09541 [90 AD3d 585] |
| Dcmbr 27, 2011 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| Justinian Capital SPC, for and on Behalf of Blue Heron SegregatedPortfolio, Appellant, v WestLB AG, New York Branch, et al.,Respondents. |
—[*1] Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, New York (Christopher M. Paparella of counsel), forrespondents.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Shirley Werner Kornreich, J.), entered May 18,2011, which granted defendants' motion to disqualify Reed Smith LLP as counsel for plaintiff,unanimously affirmed, with costs.
The motion court providently exercised its discretion in granting the motion (see Decana Inc. v Contogouris, 27AD3d 207 [2006]). In BankHapoalim B.M. v WestLB AG (82 AD3d 433 [2011]), we affirmed the disqualificationof Reed Smith as counsel for the plaintiffs, including the plaintiff in this action, in a suit claimingthat defendants had engaged in negligent and fraudulent conduct in mismanaging the plaintiffs'investments. Although the particular investment vehicles and legal claims at issue in this case arenot identical to those in Bank Hapoalim, the cases are substantially related. The motioncourt correctly found that the meeting between defendants and the attorneys that later joinedReed Smith, which required disqualification in Bank Hapoalim, mandatesdisqualification in this case. Although there is no evidence that the investment vehicle at issue inthis case was specifically discussed at the [*2]meeting, "doubts asto the existence of a conflict of interest must be resolved in favor of disqualification" (RoseOcko Found. v Liebovitz, 155 AD2d 426, 428 [1989]). Concur—Mazzarelli, J.P.,Friedman, Catterson, Renwick and Freedman, JJ.