Conflict of interest

A

Ar1776

New Member
Jurisdiction
Ohio
If an attorney is representing a defendant being sued in a family law case, and the plaintiff discovers that opposing attorney has previously represented 2 of the plaintiff's in-laws in recent years in unrelated divorce cases, does that constitute a conflict of interest? If so, would the plaintiff's own attorney be required to immediately point it out upon learning? The case is currently ongoing, and it's probably unethical to wait for a strategic point in the case to bring it up? Plaintiff has fears of the case being delayed while the defendant finds a new attorney. Defendant is already trying everything to drag out the proceedings. Any advice on how to handle this from the plaintiff's side? In case I didn't explain that clearly, plaintiff has discovered a potential conflict of interest involving the defendant's attorney in an ongoing case. What to do?
 
Ar1776 said:
If an attorney is representing a defendant being sued in a family law case, and the plaintiff discovers that opposing attorney has previously represented 2 of the plaintiff's in-laws in recent years in unrelated divorce cases, does that constitute a conflict of interest? If so, would the plaintiff's own attorney be required to immediately point it out upon learning? The case is currently ongoing, and it's probably unethical to wait for a strategic point in the case to bring it up? Plaintiff has fears of the case being delayed while the defendant finds a new attorney. Defendant is already trying everything to drag out the proceedings. Any advice on how to handle this from the plaintiff's side? In case I didn't explain that clearly, plaintiff has discovered a potential conflict of interest involving the defendant's attorney in an ongoing case. What to do?
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All of your concerns about your lawsuit should be addressed ONLY to your attorney.

If you've lost confidence in your attorney hire someone your trust.

It's unproductive to solicit information and answers from strangers when you're actively engaged in a lawsuit.
 
I didn't say I was a party to the case so please don't scold me. I'll put the question like this....is an attorney required by law or ethics to point out a potential conflict of interest regarding an opposing attorney? Doing so in this case doesn't seem like it would help the whistle-blowing side, only hassle the side being called out, further delay proceedings and add to cost burdens. There is, in fact, every confidence and trust in the plaintiffs attorney, which is why it is believed that if law or ethics required him to point out a conflict immediately, he would do so.
 
I think the ultimate point of your post is that the plaintiff -- but not necessarily the plaintiff's attorney -- has become aware that the defendant's attorney used to represent the plaintiff's parents in some matter or matters that had nothing to do with the divorce case. If so, this is not a conflict for which the plaintiff could have the defendant's attorney disqualified. If the defendant's attorney is aware of the prior representation of the plaintiff's parents, then the attorney should have disclosed that to the defendant, but whether or not that actually occurred is none of the plaintiff's concern.

If that doesn't answer your question, please clarify what you're asking.
 

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