QUESTION
what constitutes a conflict of interest in attorneys
Asked on Mar 04th, 2014 on Medical Malpractice - South Carolina
More details to this question:
A lawyer has been studying my sisters malpractice suit for over a year gathering information and questioning her. Now he has come to my sister and said that he is not going to be able to represent her but is going to represent the hospital in the suit. Is that a conflict of interest ? He has all her case info and now is on the other side of the suit and she has to start over with a new lawyer.
1 ANSWER
In your question, you say that this other attorney has been "studying" her malpractice case for over a year, and now is going to represent the hospital. What does "studying" mean? If you mean the lawyer she hired quit and now works for the other side, that may be unethical and a conflict. If he was just looking at paperwork, it may or may not be a conflict depending on the rest of the facts. However, if he is just going to work for the hospital and representing them in other matters except for her case, it would probably not be unethical.
Answered on Mar 12th, 2014 at 4:06 PM