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Conflict of interest

If you are a client of a lawyer together with somebody else, then the lawyer should only act if your interests are the same. If there is any conflict the lawyer should not assist, or assist further. This is designed to ensure he is independent, because no lawyer can ever independently represent two or more people whose interests are different.

Equally if the lawyer has another client whose interests conflict with yours, they should not assist you, or assist further. You may not even know of the other client (because of confidentiality you probably would not) and they may not know of you. But the rule still applies.

In the same way if the lawyer's own interests conflict with yours, they cannot act for you and they do not necessarily have to tell you why.

In this way you have a guarantee that your lawyer will be totally independent and serve your interests only. In return you have to understand that if one of these situations arises the lawyer can withdraw accordingly, even though they may not be able to tell you why because of confidentiality.

To all this however there is one very important exception. No lawyer can advise you independently on the terms on which you should engage that lawyer. A lawyer is a commercial entity who will make his own judgement on this, and other lawyers might offer different terms. In the end lawyers are like all businesses: if you are not happy with what is suggested you can always go elsewhere.

If you do hire that lawyer on the terms offered, then remember if the lawyer is acting on 'no win no fee' terms, they also have an interest in the outcome of your case, ie they only gets paid if they win. To a degree this might be a good thing, as it gives the lawyer an incentive to win the case. But bear in mind it also means that if in the course of the case the lawyer has a change of mind about the prospects of winning, they might want to withdraw whether you like it or not.