QUESTION
Can a firm decine me a client stating Conflict of Interest because one of the attorneys went to the High School stated as "the other party" ?
Asked on Aug 19th, 2013 on Business Law - Pennsylvania
More details to this question:
I have a situation that requires legal advice and selected a firm. I asked if the other party was a client and was informed it was NOT. I received a call explaining there was a conflict of interest and the firm could not represent me. If the other party is NOT a client what would cause a firm to decline my request for representation ? This issue involves a school matter and I feel that perhaps one of the attorneys in the firm may have graduated from this school. Would this be a legitimate Conflict of Interest ? If this is the case, am I at liberty to request this individual not be assigned the case and it be handled by one of the many other attorneys in this firm ? This firm has experience in this matter and I would prefer this firm to represent me in this matter. Can I sign a release a release acknowledging that one attorney was a graduate from that school and allow the firm to represent me void of this attorney ? What are my options ??????
1 ANSWER
You can attempt to reach an agreement with the firm, and you may be able to waive the conflict (some conflicts are waivable;some are not), but the bottom line is that, unless a Court had appointed this lawyer/firm to represent you, you can't force a lawyer or law firm to represent you if he/she/it doesn't want to. If the firm has not yet started to represent you, you can't force it to do so if it doesn't want to, conflict or no conflict Even if the firm had begun representing you, it is likely that a court would allow it to withdraw from representing you, particularly if the matter was in an early stage, and certainly if there was an actual conflcit.
Answered on Aug 19th, 2013 at 4:20 PM