## Facts

- Luke Keuffer was injured when a Mossberg rifle allegedly discharged while hunting.
- Before any lawsuit, Luke had an approximately 18-minute phone consultation with attorney Margaret Weamer at Tarlow & Stonecipher about a potential products-liability claim; the firm declined representation.
- The Keuffers later filed a products-liability action against O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc. and others, represented by different counsel.
- Mossberg retained the Renzulli Law Firm as national counsel and Tarlow & Stonecipher as local counsel.
- Tarlow & Stonecipher identified the prior call in a conflict check, disclosed it to Renzulli, and concluded it did not bar representing Mossberg; they did not disclose the consultation to the Keuffers’ counsel or obtain the Keuffers’ consent.
- During Stephanie Keuffer’s deposition, Mossberg’s counsel questioned her about prior contacts with law firms and singled out Tarlow & Stonecipher, suggesting the Keuffers had been rejected by multiple firms and implying the case lacked merit.
- The Keuffers moved to disqualify both firms, asserting improper use of confidential prospective-client information.
- The district court disqualified both Renzulli and Tarlow & Stonecipher based on prospective-client duties and concerns about fairness and public trust.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court abused its discretion by disqualifying Mossberg’s counsel based on a prior prospective-client consultation and counsel’s later litigation use of that consultation.
2. Whether the fact of a prospective-client consultation may be treated as protected information that cannot be used against the prospective client, even if no substantive details are disclosed.
3. Whether a trial court may disqualify counsel to prevent unfairness or the appearance of impropriety beyond the minimum requirements of the professional conduct rules.

## Decision

- The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the disqualification order.
- The court held the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that counsel’s conduct justified disqualification to protect the integrity and perceived fairness of the proceedings.
- The court accepted that the prior contact constituted a prospective-client consultation triggering duties under the professional conduct rules.
- The court concluded that using the existence of the consultation to attack the Keuffers’ case during deposition was an improper use “against” the prospective client.
- The court upheld disqualification of both firms, including local counsel, given their role in permitting the consultation to be leveraged in litigation.

## Legal Principles

- Trial courts have broad discretion to disqualify counsel; appellate review is for abuse of discretion, with deference to the trial court’s assessment of prejudice and the effect on the proceedings.
- A lawyer owes confidentiality-related duties to a prospective client and may not use or reveal information learned in a consultation, subject to limited exceptions.
- In the same or a substantially related matter, representing a party materially adverse to a prospective client can warrant disqualification, particularly where information received could be significantly harmful.
- The existence of a prospective-client consultation may be protected information; strategic use of that fact to discredit or intimidate the prospective client can support disqualification even without disclosure of substantive communications.
- Disqualification may be ordered to preserve fairness and public confidence, including to address the appearance of impropriety, and is not limited to the strictest reading of the ethics rules.

## Conclusion

The Montana Supreme Court upheld disqualification of defense counsel where a prior consultation with the plaintiff was treated as a protected prospective-client communication and was later used in deposition to undermine the plaintiffs’ claim, supporting the trial court’s preventive authority to maintain fairness and public confidence in the judicial process.


Keuffer v. O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc., 373 P.3d 14 (Mont. 2016)