When you hire an attorney, it is important for your attorney to complete a thorough conflict check. To do this, the attorney’s office needs potential clients to provide a list of all involved parties and witnesses. Sometimes people feel like our paralegals ask for too much information before your appointment with the attorney. This is not the case. Our paralegals need a significant amount of information before your appointment to make sure that we are able to proceed with potential representation.
The most important reason to provide thorough information is to protect your confidentiality, as well as the confidentiality of our current clients. You do not want to tell an attorney confidential information only to discover that the attorney represents an opposing party or witness. You also do not want to have your attorney withdraw from representation halfway through your case when we discover a conflict of interest. Sometimes we are not able to take a new client if we previously represented an important witness in your case. We live in a small town; sometimes, we are not able to take a case because one of our attorneys has a personal relationship with a party. The rules governing conflicts of interest are complicated. We trust our paralegals to complete conflict checks to avoid issues down the road by asking for significant information before your appointment.
Our paralegals are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as our attorneys. They are not allowed to discuss legal matters outside our office. When asking potential clients for the names of everyone involved, they are not gossiping; they are trying to ensure that you find an attorney who is right for your case.
One important piece of information potential clients can provide is parties former names. We have no method of determining when a former client has changed their name due to marriage or divorce. Therefore, it is extremely helpful for potential clients to give our office the former names of all involved so that we can determine whether a conflict exists.
We want to ensure that our clients receive top-notch service without a conflict arising mid-representation. The last thing a client wants is for their attorney to be forced to withdraw at a crucial moment in the case. To avoid that, our paralegals need to ask potential clients for significant information up front. We hope that this article explains the process a little better so that potential clients are not caught off guard when being asked these questions.