Helena Country Club v. Brocato

Summary

The Arkansas Supreme Court considered an interlocutory appeal from the disqualification of Helena Country Club’s attorney, Charles E. Halpert, Jr., in litigation involving pool-maintenance services and claims for breach of contract and violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The court held that it could not reach the merits because the record lacked a transcript of the contested telephone hearing underlying the disqualification order. The case was remanded to settle the record, with instructions concerning a supplemental record and substituted briefs.

Holdings

1. The court could not reach the merits because the record did not reveal the arguments and evidence considered at the untranscribed contested hearing; the case was therefore remanded to settle the record.
2. When an opposing party seeks to call an attorney as a witness, disqualification requires proof that the attorney's testimony is material, the evidence is unobtainable elsewhere, and the testimony is or may be prejudicial to the client.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the circuit court erred in determining that an alleged statement made during settlement negotiations could be used to call the Club's attorney as a witness.
2. Whether the circuit court erred in disqualifying the Club's attorney based on the possibility that opposing counsel would call him as a witness.
3. Whether the absence of a transcript of the contested telephone hearing prevented appellate review and required remand to settle the record.

Disposition

remanded