Examining the Latest Legal Developments and their Impact

Conflict of Interest

Common Legal Questions and answers, tips and articles about different laws and legal matters. Ask a lawyer about conflict of interest

Lawyer Ethics

Lawyer Ethics Issues

Within the legal profession, it is not unusual for lawyers to run across a host of ethical challenges. They may face constant pressure to increase their billable hours, or their desperation to win a case may lead them to withhold evidence that must be disclosed to opposing counsel. They may be encouraged to do anything they can to win a case, regardless of ethical implications. As a result, lawyers need to be especially vigilant with the rules of professional responsibility to avoid ethics rules violations.

Every state bar association maintains its own rules of professional responsibility for lawyers. It is up to the law firms themselves to make sure that their attorneys adhere to these rules. In a sense, their duty to these rules sits above any and all other responsibilities. Essentially, legal ethics rules demand that lawyers refrain from criminal behavior, handle all payments legally, communicate effectively with their clients, and avoid defrauding anyone.

What is A Conflict of Interest?

Conflict of InterestGenerally speaking, Conflicts of Interest can pertain to a company, judge or jury or even a lawyer.  In this blog though, we will be talking about attorneys and Conflicts of Interest, what they are, why they aren’t very beneficial to the other parties and why it’s essentially against a moral code to take on a client when there is a conflict of interest.  When it comes to conflict of interest cases, they tend to be ultra-specific and yet oftentimes they are difficult to identify or don’t raise a lot of red flags like some other issues in the legal system.  One of the biggest reasons why people in the law profession – even cops, are so easily swayed or have such an issue with conflicts of interest is because they are people in positions that are very powerful.  It’s not an unusual situation to find a public official like a lawyer, officer or judge that gets themselves involved in something that could be thought of as being conflict of interest.  This can be something really blatant or it could also be something very innocent such as stocks and bonds or getting involved with board memberships or creating friendships or relationships with former clients.