The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Oct. 8 in a case that could affect every lawyer who leaves a law firm for other legal employment.

The key question the court is considering in Kirk A. Kennedy and Mark A. D’Andrea v. Mindprint Inc . is this: Is there a rebuttable or irrebuttable presumption that an attorney had the confidences of all of the firm’s clients when he left the firm?