The Park Apartments at Fayetteville, Lp the Park Apartments at Fayetteville Management Company, LLC and Lindsey…

Summary

The court held that attorney disqualification under the Arkansas Rules of Professional Conduct requires actual knowledge of protected information, not merely access to a former firm's files. Because McCoy worked in a separate Legal Aid workgroup, never accessed Plants's file, and had no actual knowledge of Plants's confidential information, the Park rebutted the presumption of knowledge and disqualification was improper. Justice Baker, dissenting, would have affirmed disqualification based on access, the appearance-of-impropriety principle, and her view that the governing rule was ambiguous.