Can an attorney be disqualified from acting as a witness in an action in which he or she is acting as an advocate?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from Langnas v. Brown, B275564 (Cal. App. 2017):

The trial court also has the discretion to disqualify an attorney if the attorney will be called as a witness in an action in which he or she is acting as an advocate. The so-called "advocate-witness rule" "has long been a tenet of ethics in the American legal system" (Kennedy v. Eldridge (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 1197, 1208), and the state bar has adopted a rule of professional conduct that generally prohibits an attorney from acting as a witness and advocate in the same proceeding. Rule of Professional Conduct 5-210 provides, "A member shall not act as an advocate before a jury which will hear testimony from the member unless: [] (A) The testimony relates to an uncontested matter; or [] (B) The testimony relates to the nature or value of legal services rendered in the case; or [] (C) The member has the

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