Burnette v. Morgan’s Empirical Analysis
1990
Citation profile
52 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 54 later decisions — most recently September 2024 · most notably 118 Wash. 2d 451 - Eriks v. Denver (1992), 124 Wash. 2d 504 - State v. Garrett (1994)
52 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Bill C. Harris Construction Co. v. Powers · First American Carriers, Inc. v. Kroger Co. · 479 F. Supp. 867 - Realco Services, Inc. v. Holt · Wing v. Martin · Binder v. Perkins
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 54 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Disqualification is an absolutely necessary measure to protect and preserve the integrity of the attorney-client relationship; yet it is a drastic measure to be imposed only where clearly required by the circumstances. We must never forget that a disqualification, though aimed at protecting the soundness of the attorney-client relationship, also interferes with, or perhaps destroys, a voluntary relationship by depriving a litigant of counsel of his own choosing oftentimes affecting associations of long standing. The role of the court is to balance the current client’s right to counsel of choice with the former client’s right to protection of confidences transmitted, or likely to have been acquired, during the prior representation.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage“the burden of proving not only a lack of knowledge but also a lack of access to information should rest with the challenged attorney alleged to be disqualified.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“As an integral part of the lawyer's duty to prevent conflict of interests, the lawyer must strive to avoid not only professional impropriety, but also the appearance of impropriety. The duty to avoid the appearance of impropriety is not a mere phrase. It is part of the foundation upon which are built the rules that guide lawyers in their moral and ethical conduct. This obligation should be considered in any instance where a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct are at issue. The principle pervades these Rules and embodies their spirit.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.