A simple conflict-check routine before you accept a new matter
Conflicts rarely come from bad faith. They come from a busy week, a new partner who did not know an old client, or a company name spelled two ways. A routine catches what memory misses.
Most conflicts of interest are not the result of bad judgement. They happen because someone was busy, because a lateral hire brought clients the rest of the firm did not know about, or because the same company appears in your records under three spellings. A short, repeatable routine catches what individual memory cannot.
Check before you listen to the details
The check should happen before the prospective client explains their case in depth. Once confidential information has been shared, a conflict becomes much harder to manage cleanly.
Search more than the client
Search every party you can name at intake:
- the prospective client and its group companies,
- the other side and its known affiliates,
- key individuals — directors, shareholders, guarantors,
- other advisers and interested parties you already know about.
Search the way names are actually written
Arabic and English spellings of the same name differ, and transliterations vary from document to document. Search the Arabic name, the common English spellings, and the registration number where you have it. A search on one spelling alone gives false comfort.
Look at former clients as well as current ones
A former client is not automatically a conflict, but it is always a question. Surface past matters with the same parties so a partner can decide, rather than letting the result depend on someone remembering.
Record the decision, not just the search
For every new matter, keep a short record: what was searched, what came up, who reviewed it, and why the firm decided to proceed. If a question is ever raised later, that record is your answer.
Re-check when the matter changes
New parties join disputes, and transactions gain new buyers or lenders. Run the check again whenever a new party enters the matter, not only at opening.
Make it part of opening the file
The most reliable routine is the one people cannot skip. When a matter cannot be opened until the conflict check is recorded, the check happens every time. In Lexivo, conflict checks are part of client intake, with the search and the decision stored against the client record.
This article is general information about running a law practice. It is not legal advice.