Attorney Seeks to Disqualify Law Firm : Legal Conflict Claimed in J. David Case

The law firm representing a former J. David & Co. accountant should disqualify itself from a civil case because one of its partners prosecuted the J. David criminal case, according to a motion filed Wednesday by an attorney for J. David investors.

In documents filed in San Diego Superior Court, Michael Aguirre asked that the Duckor & Spradling law firm step down as attorney for Eric Johnson because of a “substantial appearance of impropriety.”

The potential conflict, according to Aguirre, is that Duckor & Spradling partner Robert D. Rose was in charge of the federal investigation into J. David and, in that role, questioned the accountant in a grand jury proceeding involving the fraud-ridden La Jolla investment firm.

Aguirre criticized Rose’s departure from the U.S. attorney’s office when it was announced in January, calling it “inadvisable” and suggesting that his new position represented a potential conflict of interest.

Law firm principal Mike Duckor said Wednesday that Aguirre’s motion has “no basis in law or fact.” Duckor reiterated his earlier claims that he had discussed Rose’s hiring with his partners, with Johnson and with “key counsel” representing J. David investors.

Aguirre was not one of those consulted, Duckor said.

Aguirre’s motion quotes a Los Angeles Times story in January that claimed that because Johnson was “only a witness and never a target of the grand jury” there was no violation of federal law when Rose joined the law firm.

Aguirre’s motion states that it is a “fair inference from the article that Rose was (the reporter’s) source for the comment on Johnson’s investigatory status.” That “inside information . . . creates an appearance of impropriety,” according to the motion.

The Times story did not cite Rose as a source of that information.

Several public references--including a filing in court by an attorney representing another former J. David employee--have previously been made to Johnson’s appearance as a witness before the federal grand jury, according to Duckor.

Since he joined the firm last month, Rose and his partners have established a so-called “Chinese Wall,” a lawyers’ term meaning that Rose is prevented from taking part in representing Johnson and from discussing the civil litigation against Johnson with anyone else in the firm.

Rose on Wednesday criticized Aguirre’s action. “Mike loves to see his name in the newspaper,” Rose said. “I am entitled to a life after J. David. I don’t need Mike Aguirre’s approval to live it.”

Johnson was dropped as a defendant in the lawsuits brought by Aguirre as a technical move to ensure that a May 13 trial proceeds on schedule. However, Johnson is named as a defendant in legal action brought by attorneys representing other J. David investors. Those attorneys may join in the motion, Aguirre said.

A hearing on the motion is scheduled for March 28 before Superior Court Judge Ben Hamrick.