My son has been accused of an offence. I know he’s innocent as he was with me at the time but as his mother I’m not regarded as a credible witness. However, that’s not the reason I’m posting. This has been ongoing for 11 months and he’s due in
court on Tuesday. His solicitor texted him on Thursday saying he can no longer represent him as there is a conflict of interest. He didn’t state what the conflict is. Can a solicitor suddenly dump a client at such short notice? We’ve asked for an
adjournment but the automated reply from the court states they may not get around to reading the message for about 10 days.

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On 11/02/2024 21:35, JanieB wrote:

My son has been accused of an offence. I know he’s innocent as he was with me at the time but as his mother I’m not regarded as a credible witness. However, that’s not the reason I’m posting. This has been ongoing for 11 months and he’s due

in court on Tuesday. His solicitor texted him on Thursday saying he can no longer represent him as there is a conflict of interest. He didn’t state what the conflict is. Can a solicitor suddenly dump a client at such short notice? We’ve asked for an
adjournment but the automated reply from the court states they may not get around to reading the message for about 10 days.


I think your son will probably know what the conflict of interest is. It
is unusual to withdraw from a case at short notice but the fault will
usually lie with the client, not the lawyer.

The most common scenario is that a client is asking his lawyer to put
forward a case which is ethically wrong. Perhaps by totally changing his account of what took place so that the lawyer knows that he has been
lied to either in the original account or in the new account.

If your son is an adult it's up to him what to do about this - if he's a
child then I suppose it's up to you. Complaining to the complaints
partner in the law firm might be an option, if the lawyer has really
failed to explain what the problem is.

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On 11/02/2024 22:34, The Todal wrote:

On 11/02/2024 21:35, JanieB wrote:

My son has been accused of an offence. I know he’s innocent as he was
with me at the time but as his mother I’m not regarded as a credible
witness. However, that’s not the reason I’m posting. This has been
ongoing for 11 months and he’s due in court on Tuesday. His solicitor
texted him on Thursday saying he can no longer represent him as there
is a conflict of interest. He didn’t state what the conflict is. Can a
solicitor suddenly dump a client at such short notice?  We’ve asked
for an adjournment but the automated reply from the court states they
may not get around to reading the message for about 10 days.

I think your son will probably know what the conflict of interest is. It
is unusual to withdraw from a case at short notice but the fault will
usually lie with the client, not the lawyer.

The most common scenario is that a client is asking his lawyer to put
forward a case which is ethically wrong. Perhaps by totally changing his account of what took place so that the lawyer knows that he has been
lied to either in the original account or in the new account.

I don't think that's a 'conflict of interest', though, but rather a
matter of principle. Conflicts of interest are usually when the lawyer
has another client whose interests would be potentially harmed by his proceeding.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 12/02/2024 09:06, David McNeish wrote:

On Monday 12 February 2024 at 08:31:07 UTC, Norman Wells wrote:

On 11/02/2024 22:34, The Todal wrote:

On 11/02/2024 21:35, JanieB wrote:

My son has been accused of an offence. I know he’s innocent as he was >>>> with me at the time but as his mother I’m not regarded as a credible >>>> witness. However, that’s not the reason I’m posting. This has been >>>> ongoing for 11 months and he’s due in court on Tuesday. His solicitor >>>> texted him on Thursday saying he can no longer represent him as there
is a conflict of interest. He didn’t state what the conflict is. Can a >>>> solicitor suddenly dump a client at such short notice? We’ve asked
for an adjournment but the automated reply from the court states they
may not get around to reading the message for about 10 days.

I think your son will probably know what the conflict of interest is. It >>> is unusual to withdraw from a case at short notice but the fault will
usually lie with the client, not the lawyer.

The most common scenario is that a client is asking his lawyer to put
forward a case which is ethically wrong. Perhaps by totally changing his >>> account of what took place so that the lawyer knows that he has been
lied to either in the original account or in the new account.

I don't think that's a 'conflict of interest', though, but rather a
matter of principle. Conflicts of interest are usually when the lawyer
has another client whose interests would be potentially harmed by his
proceeding.

Yes, the more usual one in criminal proceedings being somebody else
accused in the same incident (since there's a high risk they'll just blame each other!).

Though it would seem rare for that to come up at the last minute, unless
two things have only recently been connected somehow.

It would of course be wrong and a breach of duty to knowingly accept instructions from another party in the case having begun acting for the
first party, and I suppose that might happen due to a breakdown of record-keeping in the firm. Quite often the concept of "chinese walls"
would enable several lawyers in the same firm to act.

But if the interests of the client conflict with the interests of the
lawyer, eg if the lawyer is being asked to put forward a case that would
put him in breach of professional standards, then I'd call that a
conflict of interests. The lawyer in that situation would not want to
undermine his client's case by explaining to the court the precise
reason for recusing himself.

It should be quite easy to find a new law firm to represent the son, and
that law firm would make whatever application is necessary for an
adjournment, if indeed an adjournment is necessary. The case might
perhaps be ready for trial and most lawyers are capable of taking over
conduct of a well-prepared case. Sometimes barristers only meet their
client on the morning of the trial.

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On 2024-02-12, The Todal <the_todal@icloud.com> wrote:

It would of course be wrong and a breach of duty to knowingly accept instructions from another party in the case having begun acting for the
first party, and I suppose that might happen due to a breakdown of record-keeping in the firm. Quite often the concept of "chinese walls"
would enable several lawyers in the same firm to act.

I've received a letter before from a firm of solicitors threatening
civil suit on behalf of their client, to which I replied "hang on a
moment, aren't you *our* solicitors?"

(They had acted for us on an unrelated matter fairly recently prior
to the letter. My response resulted in a very similar letter arriving
from a different firm of solicitors a few weeks later ;-) )

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 22:34 11 Feb 2024, The Todal said:

On 11/02/2024 21:35, JanieB wrote:

My son has been accused of an offence. I know he's innocent as he
was with me at the time but as his mother I'm not regarded as a
credible witness. However, that's not the reason I'm posting. This
has been ongoing for 11 months and he's due in court on Tuesday. His
solicitor texted him on Thursday saying he can no longer represent
him as there is a conflict of interest. He didn't state what the
conflict is. Can a solicitor suddenly dump a client at such short
notice? We've asked for an adjournment but the automated reply from
the court states they may not get around to reading the message for
about 10 days.

I think your son will probably know what the conflict of interest is.
It is unusual to withdraw from a case at short notice but the fault
will usually lie with the client, not the lawyer.

The most common scenario is that a client is asking his lawyer to put
forward a case which is ethically wrong. Perhaps by totally changing
his account of what took place so that the lawyer knows that he has
been lied to either in the original account or in the new account.

If your son is an adult it's up to him what to do about this - if he's
a child then I suppose it's up to you. Complaining to the complaints
partner in the law firm might be an option, if the lawyer has really
failed to explain what the problem is.

As there's only a text message from the solicitor, there doesn't seem to
be much documentary evidence of his decision not to represent his former client.

Would the solicitor be expected to inform the court of his withdrawal, in advance of the hearing? If not, could the hearing proceed at all without representation?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 12/02/2024 09:43, Simon Parker wrote:

On 12/02/2024 08:04, Norman Wells wrote:

On 11/02/2024 22:34, The Todal wrote:

On 11/02/2024 21:35, JanieB wrote:

My son has been accused of an offence. I know he’s innocent as he
was with me at the time but as his mother I’m not regarded as a
credible witness. However, that’s not the reason I’m posting. This >>>> has been ongoing for 11 months and he’s due in court on Tuesday. His >>>> solicitor texted him on Thursday saying he can no longer represent
him as there is a conflict of interest. He didn’t state what the
conflict is. Can a solicitor suddenly dump a client at such short
notice?  We’ve asked for an adjournment but the automated reply from >>>> the court states they may not get around to reading the message for
about 10 days.

I think your son will probably know what the conflict of interest is.
It is unusual to withdraw from a case at short notice but the fault
will usually lie with the client, not the lawyer.

The most common scenario is that a client is asking his lawyer to put
forward a case which is ethically wrong. Perhaps by totally changing
his account of what took place so that the lawyer knows that he has
been lied to either in the original account or in the new account.

I don't think that's a 'conflict of interest', though, but rather a
matter of principle.  Conflicts of interest are usually when the
lawyer has another client whose interests would be potentially harmed
by his proceeding.

I note with sadness that your annual sojourn has done nothing to improve
the accuracy of your posts. :-(

I give you paragraph 6.1 of the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs
and RFLs [1]:

"You do not act if there is an own interest conflict or a significant
risk of such a conflict."

And to save you attempting to argue about what that might mean, here is
the SRA's definition of an "own interest conflict":

<quote>
"means any situation where your duty to act in the best interests of any client in relation to a matter conflicts, or there is a significant risk
that it may conflict, with your own interests in relation to that or a related matter"

The SRA further note:

"When it comes to an 'own interest' conflict, there are no exceptions to
the ban on acting.  So, for example, obtaining your client's consent to
act will not change the position.  Neither will telling the client to
obtain independent advice as to whether to allow you to continue to act,
if you will be conflicted if you do so."

Regards

S.P.

[1] https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/code-conduct-solicitors/

I am afraid it is you who has a misunderstanding over this.

A solicitor has no choice whether to act unethically. There is no
question; he has to refuse to do so, whatever the circumstances. That
is not a 'conflict of interests', which requires other parties'
interests, but is absolute.

A conflict of interests arises when he could in theory do what is
intended on behalf of his client, but his judgement and actions could be influenced by factors other than what is in his client's best interests,
eg if he or another client would benefit if he didn't.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 12 Feb 2024 at 14:47:18 GMT, "Norman Wells" <hex@unseen.ac.am> wrote:

On 12/02/2024 09:43, Simon Parker wrote:

On 12/02/2024 08:04, Norman Wells wrote:

On 11/02/2024 22:34, The Todal wrote:

On 11/02/2024 21:35, JanieB wrote:

My son has been accused of an offence. I know he’s innocent as he
was with me at the time but as his mother I’m not regarded as a
credible witness. However, that’s not the reason I’m posting. This >>>>> has been ongoing for 11 months and he’s due in court on Tuesday. His >>>>> solicitor texted him on Thursday saying he can no longer represent
him as there is a conflict of interest. He didn’t state what the
conflict is. Can a solicitor suddenly dump a client at such short
notice? We’ve asked for an adjournment but the automated reply from >>>>> the court states they may not get around to reading the message for
about 10 days.

I think your son will probably know what the conflict of interest is.
It is unusual to withdraw from a case at short notice but the fault
will usually lie with the client, not the lawyer.

The most common scenario is that a client is asking his lawyer to put
forward a case which is ethically wrong. Perhaps by totally changing
his account of what took place so that the lawyer knows that he has
been lied to either in the original account or in the new account.

I don't think that's a 'conflict of interest', though, but rather a
matter of principle. Conflicts of interest are usually when the
lawyer has another client whose interests would be potentially harmed
by his proceeding.

I note with sadness that your annual sojourn has done nothing to improve
the accuracy of your posts. :-(

I give you paragraph 6.1 of the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs
and RFLs [1]:

"You do not act if there is an own interest conflict or a significant
risk of such a conflict."

And to save you attempting to argue about what that might mean, here is
the SRA's definition of an "own interest conflict":

<quote>
"means any situation where your duty to act in the best interests of any
client in relation to a matter conflicts, or there is a significant risk
that it may conflict, with your own interests in relation to that or a
related matter"

The SRA further note:

"When it comes to an 'own interest' conflict, there are no exceptions to
the ban on acting. So, for example, obtaining your client's consent to
act will not change the position. Neither will telling the client to
obtain independent advice as to whether to allow you to continue to act,
if you will be conflicted if you do so."

Regards

S.P.

[1]
https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/code-conduct-solicitors/

I am afraid it is you who has a misunderstanding over this.

A solicitor has no choice whether to act unethically. There is no
question; he has to refuse to do so, whatever the circumstances. That
is not a 'conflict of interests', which requires other parties'
interests, but is absolute.

A conflict of interests arises when he could in theory do what is
intended on behalf of his client, but his judgement and actions could be influenced by factors other than what is in his client's best interests,
eg if he or another client would benefit if he didn't.

It seems to me that a conflict between the client's instructions and the solicitors's duty as an officer of the court could well be described as a "conflict of interest". And this is much politer than saying: "I am not prepared to put forward the story I know to be untrue that you have instructed me is to be your defence."

--
Roger Hayter

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