“Ga. Law Firm Faces DQ Bid Over ‘Hopeless’ FCA Case Conflict” —

• “The former employee of a tool company has called on a Georgia federal court to disqualify Smith Gilliam Williams & Miles PA and one of its attorneys from representing the company in his False Claims Act case because another firm attorney represented him in a domestic matter.”
• “In a motion to disqualify filed Monday, plaintiff Jim Southard asked that Smith Gilliam and its attorney Matthew Tyler Smith be barred from representing defendant Kipper Tool Co. They have a ‘hopeless’ conflict of interest because Southard used the firm in a ‘domestic relations’ case that ended just last week, Southard argued.”
• “‘Here, the conflict is clear, and the prejudice is unmistakable. To represent plaintiff in the domestic relations matter, SGWM obtained detailed and intimate information about plaintiff’s personal life as well as information about his financials, personal assets, and properties. These details could be advantageous to SGWM in zealously representing Kipper Tool against Plaintiff in the FCA matter,’ Monday’s motion states.”
• “Southard is involved in a yearslong dispute with his former employer. He began working at Kipper Tool in 2003 in its warehouse and worked his way up to a sales representative position, ultimately earning the title of strategic business unit leader before he resigned in 2014, according to court documents.”
• “During his time with the company, Southard became aware that Kipper Tool was routinely failing to provide the government with better prices than nongovernment customers, as is required under a multiple award schedule, or MAS, contract. Southard said he brought the issue up to the company’s vice president of sales.”
• “In August 2015, Southard filed his False Claims Act complaint on behalf of the United States. After eight years of investigation, the government declined to intervene in the case, unsealing it to move forward in May 2023, according to court documents.”
• “Southard’s issue with Smith Gilliam began in July when he retained another attorney at the firm for his domestic matter. The firm is made up of 12 attorneys and is headquartered in Gainesville, Georgia.”
• “He didn’t realize that his attorney in the domestic matter, Kelly Anne Miles, was also a named partner at Smith Gilliam until he visited the firm’s office to attend a mediation on Oct. 23 for his domestic case.”
• “While there, he noticed that Smith opened the door for him, according to the motion.”
• “On Oct. 24, Southard’s attorneys in the FCA matter, including Sarah Chu, learned from Southard that he had retained Miles. Chu responded by sending an email to Smith to inform him of the conflict of interest and ask for his position on the conflict of interest.”
• “‘While there are some circumstances when it would be permissible for the client to provide its informed consent to waive a conflict, here there are conflicts that run so deep they cannot be waived,’ Southard’s motion states.”

“New term, same ethics problems: Gorsuch’s ties to oil billionaire reignite calls for court oversight” —

• “As a new Supreme Court term dawned this week, so did new questions about the justices’ ethical standards, this time focusing on Justice Neil Gorsuch’s ties to an oil billionaire.”
• “The Donald Trump appointee is being called to recuse from an environmental case on the high court’s docket, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, because of his cozy relationship with Philip Anschutz. The owner of Anschutz Exploration Corporation stands to benefit heavily if the court greenlights an 88-mile oil and gas rail line in Utah. “
• “‘The cozy relationship between Philip F. Anschultz and Justice Gorsuch far surpasses the standard of ‘reasonably questioned impartiality’ for the federal recusal statute,’ watchdog group Accountable.US and others wrote in a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday. ‘This relationship that creates a conflict of interest is just the latest example of countless violations in the yearslong Supreme Court ethics crisis.'”
• “The letter signed by just over a dozen advocacy groups highlighted the consequences of the court’s stagnation on this issue. After years of ethical scandals surrounding the justices, there are still many open questions over when the justices need to recuse and how that decision is made.”
• “‘It certainly seems emblematic of the broader problem of there not being a specific and descriptive code of conduct that the justices need to follow that’s enforceable in any way,’ Sarah Turberville, the director of The Constitution Project, said in an interview. ‘Perhaps in this case, it’s illustrative of the need for an ethics council who’s available to really provide specific guidance to the justices.'”
• “Gorsuch served as counsel to Anschutz and his companies in the early 2000s. The Trump appointee has detailed annual hunting retreats on Anschutz’s estates and even bought an investment property with Anschutz business associates.”
• “Accountable.US says rolling back the law would lower Anschutz’s regulatory costs and drive up its profits. The watchdog argued that Gorsuch’s relationship with Anschutz creates questions around the justice’s impartiality — the standard for recusal under the federal statute. “
• “While the advocacy groups claim Gorsuch’s recusal is warranted, the justice himself will be the one to decide whether he hears the case.”
• “Gabe Roth, executive director at Fix the Court said recusal calls on Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito presented much clearer conflicts. The same can’t be said here.”
• “‘It’s a little bit more attenuated, and it would be worth having someone file a complaint to a neutral body that could then look into this, that would have the resources to call up, or that would have the authority to call up Gorsuch,’ Roth said.”
• “It’s been almost two decades since Gorsuch worked as outside counsel for Anschutz’s company, and currently there’s no public accounting of their relationship after 2017.”