What is a conflict check at a law firm?
Quick answer
A conflict check is the search a law firm runs before accepting a new client or matter. It looks through the firm's records for people and companies already involved, so the firm doesn't end up representing someone whose interests are opposed to a current or former client.
Last updated
Updated · By Robert Breen
Why it matters for a small business
Lawyers owe duties of loyalty and confidentiality to clients. If a firm represented a landlord last year and a prospective tenant now wants to sue that landlord, the firm may be unable to take the case. Finding that out on day one is a minor inconvenience. Finding it out after filing can cost everyone time and money.
The check works only as well as the information that goes in. Firms collect the prospective client's name, the opposing party, related companies and sometimes witnesses, then search them against past and current matters. Professional rules decide what counts as a conflict and when it can be waived, and that varies by place. This is a general explanation, not legal advice.
In a real lesson: Reply Faster to a Client Asking for a Case Update: ChatGPT for Small Law Firms
In the Reply Faster: Client Case Updates lesson, a made-up firm named Harbor Street Law represents Carla, who runs a flower shop, against Lakeshore Event Hall. The lesson is about answering her anxious email, so no conflict check appears in it.
It does name the three things such a check would start from: the client, the opposing party and the court. The facts list says the complaint was filed in Franklin County Court on August 18 and that Lakeshore has a new lawyer, who asked for two more weeks.
That makes it an illustration of why names matter. Before a firm like this accepts a matter, someone would search both Carla and Lakeshore Event Hall in the firm's records. The lesson is silent on whether that happened, and it should not be read as showing how any real firm does it. Use it to see what the inputs look like.
Try this lesson free or read the step-by-step guide.
Common confusions
Conflict check vs background check
A conflict check looks inward, at the firm's own clients and matters. A background check looks outward at a person's history. They answer different questions.
Conflict of interest vs competition
Two firms competing for the same client is ordinary business. A conflict exists when one firm's duties to one client clash with its duties to another, which is a professional-ethics issue.
Tips
- Collect full legal names, including company names and common variations, before searching.
- Record the date and result of every check in the file.
- If a possible conflict appears, stop and ask the responsible attorney. It is not a paralegal's call.
Related terms
More Business terms
Where you use it: free lessons
- Reply Faster to a Client Asking for a Case Update: ChatGPT for Small Law Firms (ChatGPT, 10 min)
- Reply Faster: Turn a Messy Customer Email Thread into a Clear, Friendly Reply (ChatGPT, 9 min)
- Turn a Client Intake Call into Next Steps and a Conflict-Check List (Law Firms) (ChatGPT, 9 min)
- Build an After-Hours Intake Voice Agent for a Law Firm (ElevenLabs) (ElevenLabs Agents, 9 min)
Frequently asked questions
- Do other professions run conflict checks?
- Yes. Accounting, consulting and insurance firms often check for conflicts too, though the rules differ. The idea is the same: find competing interests before work begins.
- Can software run a conflict check?
- Practice-management software can search your records quickly. A licensed attorney should still decide what the results mean.