Conflicted, Merged Squire Patton Boggs Is Ousted From Case

The Washington Post reports on a high-stakes litigation battle between two powerful industries – corn syrup and sugar – where it was discovered that Squire Patton Boggs is representing parties from both sides. The law firm Squire Sanders had been representing the sugar industry before it merged with Patton Boggs, which it turned out represents two corn refiners that are defendants in the suit. A judge has now disqualified the combined firm from representing the sugar trade group, for which Squire did more than 20,000 hours of combined attorney-paralegal work and billed more than $12 million. The firm says the problem was the result of an unintentional error in a conflict check.