In Cho v. Superior Court (1995) 39 Cal.App.4th 113, the court considered a situation in which it ultimately concluded the presumption was conclusive. In that case, a judge presided over a case and conducted three settlement conferences, which did not result in a settlement. According to the plaintiff's counsel, he disclosed confidential information to the judge during the settlement conferences. (Id. at p. 117.) Although the judge did not believe he learned anything confidential from the plaintiff's counsel, he could not say for sure. (Id. at p. 118.) While the case was still pending, the judge retired. Shortly thereafter, the law firm of Graham & James substituted in to represent the defendant in that case. At the time, the now retired judge was scheduled to join Graham & James in an "of counsel" capacity. When one of the firm's partners reviewed the court docket for the case, he discovered the judge had presided over the case. Before the judge began working for the firm, the firm decided to impose a "cone of silence" to ensure the judge would not be involved in the case in any way. A few weeks after the judge began working for the firm, counsel for the plaintiff learned the judge had joined the firm. The plaintiff then moved to disqualify the firm. (Cho, supra, 39 Cal.App.4th at pp. 116-117.) There was no dispute that the retired judge himself could not be involved in the defense of the case. (Cho, supra, 39 Cal.App.4th at p. 119.) The issue was whether the entire firm was vicariously disqualified. The trial court denied the disqualification motion, concluding that vicarious disqualification was not mandatory, and that the firm had implemented sufficient screening procedures. (Id. at p. 118.) (2) After the trial court denied the disqualification motion, the Court of Appeal granted writ relief. The trial court had made no express finding on the disputed issue of whether the judge had actually received confidences from the plaintiff during the settlement conference (Cho, supra, 39 Cal.App.4th at p. 119); the Court of Appeal proceeded on the assumption that the judge had been privy to such confidences (id. at p. 121). The appellate court summarized the issue and its holding as follows: "The issue in this case is whether a law firm must be disqualified as counsel in a lawsuit after employing the retired judge who had presided over the action and had received ex parte confidences from the opposing party in the course of settlement conferences. We conclude that screening procedures are not sufficient to preserve public trust in the justice system in these circumstances and therefore the firm must be disqualified." (Id. at p. 116.) As the italicized language reflects, the adequacy of the screening procedures was not the issue. The issue was one of public trust in the justice system. Indeed, the court emphasized the importance of preserving not only the integrity of the judicial process, but also the public's confidence in that process. The court explained: "No amount of assurances or screening procedures, no 'cone of silence,' could ever convince the opposing party that the confidences would not be used to its disadvantage. When a litigant has bared its soul in confidential settlement conferences with a judicial officer, that litigant could not help but be horrified to find that the judicial officer has resigned to join the opposing law firm--which is now pressing or defending the lawsuit against that litigant. No one could have confidence in the integrity of a legal process in which this is permitted to occur without the parties' consent." (Cho, supra, 39 Cal.App.4th at p. 125, fn. omitted; see id. at p. 126 referring to the need "to ensure public trust in the judicial system".) The Court of Appeal emphasized that the key to its decision was the fact that confidences were disclosed to the judicial officer. The fact the judge had presided over the case did not, in and of itself, warrant disqualification of the law firm. (See Cho, supra, 39 Cal.App.4th at pp. 119-121.) What mattered was that the judicial officer had presided over settlement conferences that included ex parte communications, which justified a presumption of the revelation of confidences. (Id. at p. 125.)