The defendant, Dr. Philip Ricciardi, brought a motion to prohibit Brian Ludmer from acting as counsel for the plaintiffs, Jefferson Wiggins et al., in a professional negligence action.
The defendant argued that Mr. Ludmer, having extensively interacted with Dr. Ricciardi as the plaintiff's previous family law counsel, would inevitably be a witness or rely on personal knowledge, creating a conflict of interest under the witness-advocate rule.
The defendant also raised a potential conflict regarding the limitation period defence.
The court granted the motion to prohibit Mr. Ludmer from acting due to the witness-advocate conflict, finding that his questioning would imply an 'unsworn offer of the lawyer’s version of the facts.' However, the court dismissed the limitation period conflict argument, as the plaintiff waived any claim against Mr. Ludmer.