A federal judge in Los Angeles ruled on Monday that the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is disqualified from representing Commercial Real Estate Exchange (CREXi) in an antitrust lawsuit against CoStar Group. U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall found that Quinn Emanuel's prior representation of CoStar in a separate 2023 legal matter created a conflict of interest. The judge determined that the firm breached its duty of loyalty because it did not obtain a waiver or consent from CoStar before taking on CREXi as a client in opposing litigation.
The dispute originates from a 2020 copyright infringement lawsuit filed by CoStar, which alleged that CREXi illegally copied real estate photographs. CREXi filed antitrust counterclaims in 2021, alleging that CoStar engaged in anti-competitive practices to maintain market dominance. CREXi argued against the disqualification of its counsel, stating that there was no overlap between the legal teams or facts in the two cases and that the motion was a tactical delay.
CoStar maintained that the firm's decision to represent a direct competitor while concurrently serving CoStar in another matter was a violation of professional ethics. While Quinn Emanuel declined to comment on the ruling, CoStar officials stated the decision upheld the principle of attorney-client loyalty. CREXi stated that the removal of its chosen counsel would result in prejudice to its ability to litigate the ongoing antitrust claims.