Domain Protection LLC v. Sea Wasp LLC, 4:18-cv-00792

Domain Protection, LLC sued Sea Wasp, LLC and others in the Eastern District of Texas; Conrad Herring moved to disqualify Domain Protection's counsel, Gary Schepps.
Herring claimed Schepps previously represented Jeffrey Baron, Quantec, LLC, and RPV, LTD in a substantially similar matter; those persons/entities are represented by Herring in another proceeding.
Baron, Quantec, and RPV (the former clients) attempted to intervene and raise the conflict but were denied intervention and are not parties to this action.
Herring brought the disqualification motion in his personal capacity and asserted standing as an Officer of the Court rather than as a former client of Schepps.
The central legal question was whether a non-client (here, Herring as an officer of the court) may move to disqualify counsel based on the attorney's prior representation of different, non-party clients.
The Court concluded Herring lacked standing under Fifth Circuit precedent requiring a former client to bring disqualification motions based on prior representation, and denied the motion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Herring has standing to move to disqualify counsel based on Schepps' prior representation of other clients	Herring (movant) argued he may seek disqualification as an Officer of the Court despite not being a former client	Domain Protection argued Fifth Circuit law requires a former client to bring such motions; Herring is not a former client	Denied — Fifth Circuit precedent requires the former client to move to disqualify for prior-representation conflicts; Herring lacks standing
Whether the "Officer of the Court" role allows non-clients to bring prior-representation disqualification motions	Herring urged the Court to extend the officer-of-the-court exception (citing cases allowing officers to act when counsel simultaneously represents adverse current clients)	Domain Protection argued the officer exception does not apply to prior-representation conflicts and that existing Fifth Circuit precedent forbids extension	Denied — court declined to extend the officer-of-the-court exception to prior-representation disqualification motions
Whether permitting Herring's motion would conflict with Fifth Circuit panel precedent rule	Herring argued policy/equity favored disqualification to protect case integrity	Domain Protection relied on binding Fifth Circuit panels (Yarn Processing line) prohibiting non-former-client motions	Court refused to overturn or deviate from established Fifth Circuit panel precedent

Yarn Processing Patent Validity Litig., 530 F.2d 83 (5th Cir. 1976) (establishes that only the former client may invoke disqualification for prior representation)
In re Am. Airlines, Inc., 972 F.2d 605 (5th Cir. 1992) (reinforces former-client standing rule for disqualification motions)
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. v. Daniel Intern. Corp., 563 F.2d 671 (5th Cir. 1977) (permitted officers to seek disqualification where counsel concurrently represented adverse current clients; court declined to extend this to prior-representation claims)