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In re Carey11/26/2002
tion on important areas of the company like marketing, public and consumer relations, dealer relations, and the recall itself.
This information was very important to Chrysler. Charles Newman summed up Chrysler's position on the matrix in saying:
his is highly confidential information and it was shared with us by our client in confidence. We had a discussion, extensive discussions with the client that resulted in the creation of this document, this matrix or template. And to have a plaintiff's lawyer know, for instance, of the very considerations themselves what Chrysler's thought process deemed important and deemed material and how I in representing them analyzed each of those aspects would be very sensitive, confidential information that neither the company nor I would want to share with anyone.
B. Carey & Danis, L.L.C. -- The Chrysler ABS Class Action
In January 1995, Carey and Danis left Thompson & Mitchell and formed their own firm, Carey & Danis, L.L.C. Carey & Danis shared office space with the firm of David Danis -- Joseph Danis' father -- Danis, Cooper, Cavanagh & Hartweger, L.L.C. The two firms shared staff, a bookkeeper, a fax machine, and unlocked (but separate) filing cabinets.
In August 1995, a Thompson & Mitchell secretary referred her brother-in-law, Dennis Beam, to Carey & Danis after he experienced problems with the anti-lock brake system on his Chrysler minivan. Carey discussed the potential case with Beam. Carey, obviously aware that he and Danis had represented Chrysler, researched Rule 1.9 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct for an hour or two to determine if a conflict existed. Carey testified that he "made the determination that since Joey [Danis] and I had no knowledge or information at all concerning anti-lock brakes . . . that those were not substantially related under my review of the case law and reading those rules." Carey determined there was not a conflict. However, Carey & Danis did not file suit because Thompson & Mitchell had been referring business to them and they did not want to embarrass their former firm by filing suit against a former client.
Carey & Danis arranged for the Danis, Cooper firm to represent Beam and a class of plaintiffs against Chrysler. Danis, Cooper was to get help on the case from another St. Louis law firm, Blumenfeld, Kaplan & Sandweiss. Carey and Danis met with attorneys from Danis, Cooper and the Blumenfeld firm to discuss the Beam class action suit over lunch at a restaurant. According to Evan Buxner, who was working for Blumenfeld at the time, the "purpose of the meeting was to discuss generally if Blumenfeld, Kaplan & Sandweiss participated in the litigation what our role was and what we might expect representing a plaintiff in a proposed class in a plaintiffs' class action case." Carey & Danis was the only firm with any significant class action litigation experience among the three firms. The firms discussed a number of topics relating to the class action against Chrysler: attorney time and cost, the fact that NHTSA was conducting an investigation into the brake system, that a proposed class action could ride the government coattails and let the government agency do most of the work, the effect of a recall on a potential class action, the necessity (or lack thereof) of hiring experts, and that they could expect a barrage of motions from Chrysler.
Shortly after their involvement began, Blumenfeld was informed that Carey & Danis' involvement in Beam was being investigated for conflict of interest. Blumenfeld then withdrew from the Beam litigation. Carey explained: Once they withdrew David [Danis] and
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