Conflict of Interest

In the practice of law, a conflict of interest occurs in the event that a lawyer is at a risk of not acting in the best interest of his or her client due to personal issues or because their loyalties lie elsewhere.

Classic conflicts of interests include when a lawyer is hired by a client who is a major competitor to a client who already has the lawyer on retainer or when a lawyer is hired to sue the company where his wife works.

The examples are endless but the concept is the same. Loyalty is key. Every lawyer will at one point or another encounter conflicts of interest and must learn how to keep these conflicts from interfering with the successful running of the law firm.

How to avoid conflicts of interest
There are several ways to avoid landing in this situation. As a lawyer, you should always conduct extensive research on any potential client that approaches your firm. You should conduct a thorough background check to uncover any hidden links to present clients. You will need a reliable electronic database to do this.

It would also do you well to separate your professional and personal life. It is highly unadvisable to date anyone even remotely linked to your client or the case. Even just the appearance of a relationship is reasonable cause.

Clear and open dialogue is also a key way of finding out early and avoiding any future conflicts of interests. A law firm should also be clear on what type of clients they want so that they can stay clear on any clients that may be competition to their desired clientele.

Dealing with conflicts of interest
In some cases, a lawyer can still represent a client despite there being a conflict of interest. Most conflicts can be waived, but that will need the lawyer to acquire consent form the clients. It is, however, important to note that just because a conflict can be waived doesn’t make it a good idea to do so.

Getting consent from clients will require the lawyer to give the clients sufficient information without breaking anyone’s trust. This consent has to be in writing. However, a lawyer cannot represent two clients on opposing sides of the same case or a related one.
Eventually, it is up to the lawyer in question to decide when it is appropriate to remove themselves from the case and when it is appropriate to carry on.

The post Conflict of Interest appeared first on The Rick Zimmer Law Firm.

source http://www.rickzimmer.com/conflict-of-interest/