When you hire a lawyer, you expect them to put you first and to focus on your best interests. You are hiring them for their proficiency in their legal field, and you need to know that they are working hard on your behalf. They should not do anything to hinder your case.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen. In some cases, lawyers will have a conflict of interest that means they may not be as focused on their client’s rights as they should be. In fact, if it is serious enough, this could be a form of legal malpractice.
Why it is a problem
The issue with a conflict of interest is just that the lawyer isn’t giving 100% of their attention to seeking success for either client.
For example, say that you get injured in a slip-and-fall accident in a local store. You hire a lawyer to seek compensation for your medical bills. After you receive less compensation than you expected, you discover that your lawyer was also working with the store owner. Maybe they were a client from a different case or perhaps the lawyer was attempting to represent both sides.
But the conflict of interest doesn’t always have to be another client. It could be something from the lawyer’s personal life. For instance, what if you found out that their spouse was the owner of the store where you got injured? These types of family or business connections can also create a significant conflict of interest.
If you do think that this happened to you, you may not have received the professional representation you deserved. It may be time to look into all of the legal steps you can take.
