Judge Says SCIF Attorney Conflict Created Real Risk for Defendants in RICO Case

A federal judge denied a request by the State Compensation Insurance Fund to reconsider his decision to disqualify the carrier’s outside counsel in a civil racketeering case, saying there was a real conflict of interest that exposed defendants to “concrete, particularized harms.” U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford on Friday said Hueston Hennigan cannot represent State Fund in its action against more than two dozen providers accused of accepting kickbacks from Michael D. Drobot to refer work comp patients to Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, because the firm is also rep...