We always appreciate the diligent work, research, and commentary from Bill Freivogel:

Kudlacek v. Olson (Law Firm), 34 Neb. App. 83 (Neb. App. Feb. 17, 2026).

• Beneficiary of Trust sued Law Firm that represented Settlors of Trust. Beneficiary was unhappy about his rights under Trust and sued Law Firm for negligence. The primary issue is whether Beneficiary, a non-client, can sue Law Firm.
• The trial court granted Law Firm summary judgment. In this opinion the appellate court affirmed. The court ruled a non-client can sue a lawyer if the non-client was an intended third-party beneficiary of the lawyer’s work, but not if a conflict of interest for the lawyer results.
• Here, the Settlors’ expectation differed from what Beneficiary wanted. Thus, the conflict prevented non-client Beneficiary from suing Law Firm. Heavy reliance on Nebraska precedent.

Paciorkowski v. Jetson Elec. Bikes LLC, 2026 WL 438086 (N.J. App. Div. Feb. 17, 2026).

• Plaintiff attempted to be both a class representative and class counsel in a case involving allegedly defective electric bikes. The trial court denied class certification.
• In this opinion the appellate court affirmed, holding that Plaintiff could not be both, except “in certain public interest litigations.” No such “public interest,” here.

Lake v. Brennan, 2026 WL 401197 (M.D. Pa. Feb. 12, 2026).

• Plaintiff is suing City and a number of city-related individuals involving an allegedly improper petition for conservatorship for Plaintiff’s property. Law Firm appeared for City and the individuals.
• Plaintiff moved to disqualify Law Firm claiming that multiple representation was a conflict. Defendants raised Plaintiff’s lack of standing to make the motion. The court discussed standing in the Third Circuit at length.
• The court said because the law on standing is “not clear,” it would assume “arguendo” that Plaintiff had standing. Then, in a routine analysis, not worth pursuing here, the court found no conflict.

Bova v. Twp. of Jackson Planning Bd., 2026 WL 294936 (N.J. App. Div. Feb. 4, 2026).

• Planning Board approved construction of a private school. Plaintiffs (adjoining land owners) sued to overturn the approval.
• One objection was the lawyer (“Lawyer”) for the school/applicant had a relationship with the chair of the planning board (“Chair”).
• The relationship was this: Chair belonged to a synagogue (not a party here). Lawyer represented the synagogue before the township zoning board (different board from Planning Board).
• The trial court upheld the Planning Board’s approval of the private school project, finding the conflict argument “far too remote” to find a conflict. In this Opinion the appellate court affirmed. [Our note: The appellate court did discuss snippets of evidence suggesting Lawyer and Chair were pals of sorts, but said the trial court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting the conflict argument.]

Deel, Inc. v. People Center, Inc., 2026 WL 313505 (Del. Super. Ct. Unpub. Feb. 5, 2026).

• Plaintiff moved to disqualify law firm for Defendant (“Law Firm”) because Law Firm and Plaintiff had earlier contacts about Law Firm representing Plaintiff in a matter arguably related to this case.
• In this unpublished opinion the trial court denied the motion, primarily because Law Firm had erected a screen between the lawyer who contacted Plaintiff and the rest of the firm, in compliance with Delaware Rule 1.18.

“Beasley Allen Fights DQ Order: ‘You Need to Hit Pause for Now’” —

• “A federal judge in New Jersey plans to hear arguments next week on whether to disqualify Beasley Allen, one of the lead plaintiffs’ firms, from the talcum powder multidistrict litigation against Johnson & Johnson.”
• “In a Feb. 9 order, U.S. Magistrate Judge Rukhsanah Singh, of the District of New Jersey, ordered supplemental briefing after a New Jersey appeals court found that Beasley Allen should be disqualified from talc lawsuits because principal Andy Birchfield had partnered with a former Johnson & Johnson attorney to negotiate a proposed $19 billion settlement. Beasley Allen, which claims to represent 435 women in New Jersey state courts, and 5,500 in the multidistrict litigation, has argued to hold off the disqualification to give time to appeal the New Jersey Appellate Division’s Feb. 6 order to the New Jersey Supreme Court.”
• “‘My view is, judge, you need to hit pause for now—just briefly,’ Jeffrey Pollock, of Pollock Law in Trenton, New Jersey, told Law.com for Birchfield and Beasley Allen. ‘The reason being is let’s assume that the appellate division agrees with me, and the Supreme Court agrees with me that Beasley Allen is not out. You rearrange all the deck chairs in the MDL because we’re out, then have to do it all over again.'”
• “Johnson & Johnson, however, has suggested replacing Beasley Allen, whose principal Leigh O’Dell serves as co-lead counsel in the multidistrict litigation, with R. Allen Smith, of The Smith Law Firm, who obtained the first-ever talc verdict in 2013.”
• “‘In fact, in the majority of the Beasley Allen cases that have proceeded to trial since the inception of the litigation, Allen Smith served as lead trial counsel, devising the trial strategy, taking the examinations of nearly all experts, and handling nearly all openings and closings,’ Johnson & Johnson attorney Kristen Fournier, of Kirkland & Ellis in New York, wrote in a Thursday letter to Singh. ‘As such, the disqualification of Beasley Allen should not cause significant disruption to Beasley Allen’s clients (or this MDL) as one of their current attorneys, with significant trial experience and access to expert resources, can continue to represent them.'”
• “‘There is no need to ‘secure substitute counsel’ to replace Beasley Allen, nor is there any risk that denial of a stay of Beasley Allen’s disqualification will ‘irreparably prejudice’ the talc clients,’ he wrote. ‘I, through SLF [Smith Law Firm] will continue to represent the talc clients without disruption or prejudice.'”
• “The potential disruption to the existing talc cases would be ‘real and potentially irreversible,’ Pollock wrote in a Thursday motion, noting that Beasley Allen represents three of the six bellwether plaintiffs teed up for trials in the multidistrict litigation, which involves 67,000 talc cases.”
• “‘Disqualifying nationally selected MDL co-lead counsel based on a single state appellate court’s unprecedented expansion of an ethics rule would disrupt coordinated leadership, impair settlement negotiations, and prejudice litigants who have relied on their chosen counsel for the better part of a decade,’ Pollock wrote in a Thursday motion.”
• “As to the multidistrict litigation, Johnson & Johnson, pushing for disqualification, cited a joint venture agreement between Montgomery, Alabama’s Beasley Allen and the Smith Law Firm, based in Ridgeland, Mississippi, that would alleviate much of the disruption caused by the disqualification order. The firms share 11,000 talc clients.”