When a new client reaches out to a law firm, the firm has an ethical obligation to conflict check before providing any information.
Why do law firms ask for full names of the interested parties before discussing a case?
Attorneys have to follow the Model Rules of Professional Conduct at all times. Contained in the Model Rules of Professional Conduct are rules that a lawyer shall not represent a client if the representation involves a conflict of interest. This means that Lawyers have to ensure that they are not representing, or have not represented in the past, any other person involved in your case (or potential case) who has a different position that you as the prospective client. This conflict expands beyond just the individual attorney; it expands to cases that other attorneys have managed within the same firm. There are exceptions to this but they wouldn’t apply to this firm as we have had contact with and have managed all prior case files.
If an attorney has represented another party involved in the case; it is possible for both the client and other party to waive the conflict in some rare instances. This would likely happen only if the parties positions are similar or the same. The challenge in that scenario is that parties positions may change and create a conflict that requires the attorney to withdraw.
Law firms may conflict off the case for other reasons besides having represented the other party. An example of this would be if a law firm has a longstanding friendship with the other party you are looking to go against. If a lawyer does not feel they are able to exercise their independent professional judgment, then they must conflict off the case and not take the case.
