Lewis v. Hirschbach Motor Lines, Inc.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS LERON LEWIS, JR, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 3:20-cv-1355-JPG HIRSCHBACH MOTOR LINES, INC. and ERIC JEROME CAMPELL, SR., Defendants. BRANDON JAMAL MOFFETT, Plaintiff, v. HIRSCHBACH MOTOR LINES, INC. and ERIC JEROME CAMPELL, SR., Defendants/Third Party Plaintiffs, v. BRANDON JAMAL MOFFETT, LERON LEWIS, JR., DATWAY LLC, MOTOR CARRIER CONSULTANTS, LLC., J.B. HUNT TRANSPORT, INC., MCGRIFF TIRE, CO., INC., NAVISTAR, INC., BENDIX, COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SYSTEMS LLC, and BIG TEX TRAILER MANUFACTURING, LLC, Third Party Defendants. MEMORANDUM AND ORDER This matter comes before the Court on third party defendant J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. (“J.B. Hunt”) Motion to Disqualify Counsel for Hirschbach Motor Lines Inc. (“Hirschbach”) and Eric Campbell (Doc. 132). Counsel for Hirschbach and Campbell is Heyl Royster Voelker & Allen PC (“Heyl Royster”). Defendants/third party plaintiffs filed their response to J.B. Hunt’s Motion on February 2, 2022. (Doc. 149). A party seeking disqualification bears the burden of demonstrating necessity of the disqualification. In re DeVieg, Inc., 174 B.R. 497 (N.D. Ill. 1994). The court, having reviewed the motion and the response as well as the applicable Illinois Supreme Court Rules, case law, and facts as it applies to this case and otherwise being fully advised in the premises, hereby finds that the J.B. Hunt failed to carry its burden of proof to disqualify defendant/third party plaintiff’s counsel. Disqualification is regarded as a drastic measure and cannot be granted here because movant has not met its burden. The Court hereby DENIES J.B. Hunt’s Motion to Disqualify Counsel for Hirschbach Motor Lines Inc. and Eric Jerome Campbell Sr (Doc. 132). IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: February 15, 2022 /s/ J. Phil Gilbert J. PHIL GILBERT DISTRICT JUDGE