Dealing With Conflicts in Joint Representation of Defendants in Mass Tort Litigation

By G. Luke Ashley* and Richard L. Wynne, Jr.**

Contents of article originally published in April 2004

I. Introduction

As litigation continues to become increasingly complex with plaintiffs attempting to unite in class action lawsuits while naming as many defendants as possible, the legal costs associated with defending such lawsuits present a great economic challenge to many companies.¹ In response to the increasing costs, defendants have banded together by engaging a single attorney or law firm to provide a joint representation. Alternatively, in certain contexts, defendants have formed joint defense groups in which each defendant has an individual attorney, but costs as well as information are shared by the members of the joint defense group.² Although both approaches appear functional and prudent, significant problems may arise which require the attorney or law firm to withdraw from representation of one or all of the defendants in the multiple representation context and