Law firm booted from FLDS Church's trust case
Rod Parker and the Salt Lake law firm Snow Christensen & Martineau were disqualified Wednesday from representing the FLDS Church and some of its members in a challenge to the reforms of the United Effort Plan Trust.
"This is an irreconcilable conflict, and it mandates the disqualification of Mr. Parker and the law firm," 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg said. "It extends to the consultation of present and future litigants."
The judge also ordered the firm to hand over documents gathered from 17 years of representing the UEP and the FLDS Church to lawyers for the court-appointed special fiduciary placed in charge of the $110 million trust.
"The court's asking us to hand over the confidences of our client to an adversary in the view of our clients," Parker said outside court. "I think we have an ethical obligation to resist that."
FLDS member and spokesman Willie Jessop stood up in court to protest the judge's decision to disqualify their attorneys.
Church lawyers argued that the trust has been changed so dramatically, it is not the same entity it once was. Attorneys for the fiduciary countered that Snow Christensen & Martineau was once hired to defend some of the same claims they're bringing now.
"It's a huge deal to have your former counsel suing you," said Jeffrey L. Shields, an attorney for fiduciary Bruce Wisan.
Parker said he was unsure how the decision would affect at least a half-dozen lawsuits and motions challenging the UEP trust, which is now under court control. The judge's decision will be appealed to the Utah Supreme Court, lawyers for the firm said.
The trust was taken over by the courts in 2005 amid allegations that Warren Jeffs and other FLDS leaders mismanaged it. The trustees were ousted, Wisan was placed in charge, and court-ordered reforms are being enacted that would subdivide property and do away with the communal concept that the trust was founded on.
For years, FLDS members who live on land controlled by the trust remained silent and refused to cooperate with reform efforts. Now, members are challenging some of the reforms.
On Wednesday, they sought to block the sale of a 773-acre farm on the Utah-Arizona border. Wisan wants to sell the Berry Knoll Farm to a home developer, giving the debt-plagued trust a quick infusion of cash. Jim Bradshaw, an attorney representing several FLDS members, revealed the farm was designated as a temple site.
Recent comments
Too little too late...Now are we trying to see justice prevail or…
woah | Oct. 30, 2008 at 11:01 p.m.
That's the point Re.......noone is listening. Many people just…
zxcvbnm | Oct. 16, 2008 at 6:44 a.m.
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Start using truthful arguments…re zxcvbnm 11;58am | Oct. 15, 2008 at 1:35 p.m.
