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Lawyer has Conflict of interest? What to do?

  • 15-04-2025 09:46PM
    #1
    Albannach99
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4 ✭


    Would there be a conflict of interest for a solicitor in the following scenario.. ?

    In Republic of Ireland, a man is served a safety order by his ex which blocks him from contacting her and their baby. He arranges for a certain lawyer to represent his defence and also his access request and guardian request. He shares details of the case with her verbally and in writing. But upon hearing of her fee he opts for self representation.

    The same lawyer then represents the woman on the court day.

    Should the lawyer be reported?



Comments

  • #2
    3DataModem
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,163 ✭✭✭3DataModem


    Should be reported: yes.

    Is it permitted: maybe.



  • #3
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,430 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    I'm assuming the man was blindsided on the day, when the lawyer turned up in court to represent his ex? He had no notion that this might happen?

    What he should do, I think, is raise the issue in the court there and then— point out that he previously consulted that lawyer in relation to this matter with a view to instructing her and that, although he didn't instruct her, she does have privileged knowledge as a result of that consultation. There will follow an icy interview between the judge and the lawyer, and the most likely outcome is that the judge will adjourn the matter to enable the ex to obtain new, unconflicted representation. (Almost certainly, the ex also did not know that the man had previously consulted the lawyer that she instructed. At any rate, there is no basis for suggesting that she did.)

    Presumably, if the man had done that, the OP would have said so, so he didn't. If he's unhappy with the outcome of the court proceedings he can appeal. He can give the fact that his ex's lawyer was conflicted in this way as one of the grounds of the appeal. The question will arise as to why he never mentioned this at the hearing, to which he can reasonably respond "I was blindsided. I was self-represented. I had no idea what was the right way to handle this, and no-one to advise me". I think the appeal court will be sympathetic to that.

    But the appeal court won't automatically overturn the initial judgment. I think the man will need to make the case that the privileged knowledge this lawyer had disadvantaged him in a way that affected the outcome of the hearing, or alternatively that the situation rendered the original hearing so fundamentally unfair that the outcome ought to be set aside and the matter reheard.

    Should he report the lawyer to the Law Society separately? Why bother? It's not going to affect his interests, one away or the other, because the Law Society has no power to overturn the judgment of the court. Even if they sanction the lawyer, that has no benefit for the man concerned. Plus the complaint is not a particularly strong one if it's made by someone who has chosen not to raise the matter at any point in the proceedings.



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