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A System |
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1 |
Does your firm brief staff on the Conflicts Rules in the Bar Council Rulings and Legal Profession (Practice and Etiquette) Rules 1978? |
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2 |
Is there a designated partner in charge of conflicts check? |
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3 |
Does your firm have a system for discovering conflicts of interest? |
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4 |
Are all staff aware of this system? |
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5 |
Is this system easily accessible to all staff? |
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6 |
Are all new staff taken through this system as part of their induction process? |
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7 |
Does the designated partner circulate information on new clients for lawyers to review and sign off on? |
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8 |
Does the system require ALL staff to conduct a conflict check prior to their receiving confidential information from a potential client? |
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Who is the Client? |
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9 |
Is the following basic conflict of interest information obtained before opening a file:
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Exact identity of the client: Who is the client in the transaction? What role does (s)he have?
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Is the client an individual or an entity for which the individual works for?[1]
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Is the client a party to a transaction, both parties, or the entity they are performing?[2]
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10 |
Do you require prospective clients to disclose any personal relationships they may have with any staff/lawyer in the firm? |
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Your Firm’s ‘Peoples*’?
*Anyone who comes into contact with your firm. |
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11 |
Does your firm have a database of its ‘peoples’? |
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12 |
Does the database include the following
information:
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Client name
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Names of opposing parties
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Co-plaintiffs or co-defendants
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Declined clients’ names
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Subsidiaries/Affiliates or partners of client
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Aliases/Alternative Spelled Names/
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Known Former Names
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Directors or officers of client
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Known relative of client and other parties
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Common law spouses of client and others
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Lawyers for any names in the database
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Identity of Witnesses
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Employees (Staff, Legal Assistants, Partners etc)
*This information is especially important where new employees/partners are joining your firm from another firm.
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Vendors/ Service Providers
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13 |
Does the database include a description of who the party is and what relationship or file the individual/entity has with your firm?[3] |
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14 |
Is there one staff responsible for maintaining this database? Is there a backup staff in the event (s)he is unavailable? |
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Dealing with Conflicts |
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15 |
If a potential conflict is found, do you either decline to take the case or notify the client of the potential conflict in writing? |
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16 |
If you are asked to represent two or more clients in the same matter, do you ask them to sign a waiver/consent letter? If so, have you considered whether this is a situation where the client can waive the Conflict? |
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17 |
If you are asked to represent two or more clients in a Conveyancing matter, do you check with your legal profession rules if you are allowed to do so in those circumstances? Do you obtain written waivers from the clients? |
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18 |
Your firm’s policy discourages
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Signing on clients in matters where lawyers, their relative, or friend, has a financial interest.
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Representing opposing parties in “friendly” litigation where there seems to be no opposing interest.[4]
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