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 2013-09

Virgin Valley Water Dist. v. Dist. Ct. (Lonetti, Jr.) ( 2013 )


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  •                             Petitioner Virgin Valley Water District (VVWD) seeks to
disqualify attorney Dominic Gentile and his law firm Gordon Silver from
representing real party in interest John Lonetti, Jr. in the underlying
case. Gentile met and communicated with George Benesch, VVWD's
former general counsel, prior to the time that VVWD amended its
complaint to add Lonetti as a defendant in the underlying case. VVWD
alleges that Benesch conveyed to Gentile confidential information relevant
to the underlying case, while Lonetti characterizes the meeting as a
primer for Gentile in water law.
In denying VVWD's motion to disqualify, the district court
found that Benesch did not disclose confidential information to Gentile.
At oral argument, Benesch and Gentile testified that the meeting
pertained to general principles of water law and general information about
VVWD, and the district court found Benesch's and Gentile's testimony
credible. The district court also found that a reasonable probability of
disclosure did not exist. Substantial evidence supports the district court's
findings.   Weddell v. H20, Inc., 128 Nev. „
    271 P.3d 743
    , 748
(2012). In particular, Gentile's notes of the meeting reflect a general
discussion of water law, and the documents Benesch provided to Gentile
were publicly available documents. Given these facts, any public suspicion
does not outweigh the societal interests in Gentile's and Gordon Silver's
continued participation in this case.     Cronin v. Eighth Judicial Dist.
Court,
    105 Nev. 635
    , 640-41,
    781 P.2d 1150
    , 1153 (1989), disapproved of on
other grounds by Nev. Yellow Cab Corp. v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court,
    123 Nev. 44
    , 54 n.26,
    152 P.3d 737
    , 743 n.26 (2007); see also Brown v. Eighth
Judicial Dist. Court,
    116 Nev. 1200
    , 1205-06,
    14 P.3d 1266
    , 1270 (2000)
SUPREME COURT
OF
NEVADA
2
(0) 1947A
(plurality opinion). Accordingly, because VVWD has not demonstrated
that our intervention by way of extraordinary writ relief is warranted, we
ORDER the petition DENIED.
Gibbons
Douglas
cc:   Hon. Rob Bare, District Judge
Bingham Snow & Caldwell
Gordon Silver
Eighth District Court Clerk
SUPREME COURT
OF
NEVADA
3
(0) 1947A