Lawyer Pair Can Represent Each Other at Depositions

Two lawyers who are potential witnesses in a malpractice case can represent each other at their respective depositions, a federal magistrate judge in Nevada held Feb. 23 (McKenna v. Chesnoff, 2017 BL 56818, D. Nev., No. 2:14-cv-01773-JAD-CWH, 2/23/17).

There’s no basis for a protective order to keep them from hearing each other’s deposition testimony, and the ethics rule on lawyer-witnesses doesn’t mandate their disqualification, Magistrate Judge C.W. Hoffman Jr. said.

The opinion highlights a client’s interest in having counsel of choice—even if the client herself is an attorney.

The plaintiff is suing David Chesnoff, Richard Schonfeld and their ...