High-Profile Dallas Firms Square Off in Big-Bucks Conflict Argument
Lawyers from two of the most prominent firms in Dallas squared off in a federal courtroom packed with other distinguished attorneys today in a high-profile client conflict argument that could involve hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
Calling Bill Brewer of Bickel & Brewer “the most conflicted lawyer in the city of Dallas,” Mike Lynn of Lynn Tillotson Pinker & Cox sought to disqualify the firm from representing Al G. Hill III in what the Dallas Morning News describes as a nasty family fight. The litigation battle is being waged over the fortune of oilman H.L. Hunt, who was at one time considered the richest man in the country.
Lynn represents Al G. Hill Jr., who is the father of his opponent’s client and has, along with other family members, been sued by Al G. Hill III. The son’s complaint contends that his father and other family members conspired to plunder family trusts, the newspaper recounts.
Before the court can get to the merits of the case, however, it must decide whether the Bickel firm, as Lynn contends, has conflicted itself out of the case by filing suit against its own client, or representing both father and son in related matters that gave the firm access to confidential information about both parties.
Bickel & Brewer has contended in court papers that the motion to disqualify is “transparently tactical.”
