The Columbian | Serving Clark County, Washington

Attorneys for Vancouver have filed a motion asking that a lawyer deeply involved in the litigation brought by three current and former Vancouver Police Department employees be disqualified from trying the case of former officer Chris Kershaw.

Attorney Greg Ferguson represents Kershaw, who is in the middle of a lawsuit against the city, and Sgt. Dave Henderson and Cpl. Randy Braaksma, who have both filed tort claims of their intent to sue.

Seattle attorney Mike Patterson, who represents the city, said that Ferguson has a conflict of interest in representing both Kershaw or Henderson, that he cannot represent either without damaging the other’s case.

Both men claim they were targeted for termination or discipline in retaliation for speaking up on behalf of officer Navin Sharma, who won a $1.65 million discrimination settlement in 2008. Ferguson was co-counsel in that case.

However, according to a motion filed in Clark County Superior Court, Henderson was Kershaw’s supervisor, and will be a “key witness” for the city in the case.

Henderson, the motion said, “noted several issues with Mr. Kershaw’s job performance,” particularly errors in writing reports.

Henderson was Kershaw’s direct supervisor during the time that Kershaw claims he began to be targeted by higher-ups, the motion says. Ferguson would have to discredit Henderson’s testimony to aid in the Kershaw case, and it is unethical for an attorney to attack his own client, it says.

That “would be wholly detrimental to Sgt. Henderson’s current claim against the city, in which Mr. Ferguson represents his interests,” the motion says.

Patterson also said that he is unsure if Henderson and Kershaw were properly informed of this conflict when they retained Ferguson as counsel.

Ferguson did not return calls or e-mails last week. A hearing date for the motion has not been set.

Print this article