Law firms and their lawyers frequently make business or practice decisions that affect the conflicts of interest analysis. For example, is the law firm going to represent management in employment disputes or represent the individual plaintiffs? Can the firm do both? Should the firm do both? Issues also arise based on personal interests. Can the law firm represent a client in a litigation against a company owned, in part, by one of its lawyers? Should the firm do so? And, issues arise based on economic, but not legal, consequences to clients. Would a negative economic impact to one client in representing another client create a conflict of interest? These questions are some of the more difficult ones in conflicts analysis, but integral to ensuring the long-term success of the business. Finding the right answer can be critical.
In this CLE, our speakers will:
- Review some more difficult conflict of interest situations, involving positional conflicts, subject matter conflicts, and economic consequence conflicts.
- Analyze the applicable Rules of Professional Conduct, accompanying commentary and supporting case law that govern the way these conflicts should be evaluated.
- Answer hypotheticals to test your understanding of these principles.
- Leave you with some takeaway lessons that should help you better understand the right questions to ask in evaluating these conflicts and how to arrive at the right result.
The program is approved for one (1) MCLE Ethics credit in California, New Jersey (through reciprocity), New York and Pennsylvania. Credit for other jurisdictions may be available upon request.
Live simultaneous videoconference available in the following Pepper Hamilton offices: Berwyn, Boston, Detroit, Harrisburg, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., Wilmington.