Paralegal
When a company's interest are the same as those of an individual employee, in-house lawyers generally can avoid multiple-representation problems. But once there is a conflict of interest -- or a perception of a conflict -- the picture changes dramatically. It is important for in-house counsel to know how to spot such conflicts and what steps to take in response. Corporate counsel clients normally include the company, its board of directors, its most senior management, the heads of the company's various business divisions, its employees and even its former employees. All of these clients deserve quality representation in every matter, from the most fundamental to the most vexing. With this broad range of clients, ethical questions can arise. Specifically, can corporate counsel serve more that one client and, if so, what constraints exist upon such multiple representation? In most instances, a corporate lawyer should attempt to represent both the corporation and its employees, consistent with his or her ethical obligations. It is obviously in any company's interest to present a consistent and unified version of events that give rise to potential liability. Under governing ethics rules, corporate cou
A financial analysis of the account, however, showed an actual net loss to the customer of $25,000. The right to counsel and the right of protection from self-incrimination are constitutional rights; employment is not. If she does, Company A would be well-served to consider terminating her employment. Another scenario, an in-house attorney for a high-tech company "Company A," received a letter from a competing company, "Company B," threatening a lawsuit. They were asked their advice for an attorney confronted with an ethical dilemma? Their response were: in-house counsel should contact the general counsel first; an attorney must be particularly sensitive to potential disputes and must make every effort to avoid being placed in a compromising position; identifying the true client is essential; do not avoid confronting the issue, ethical dilemmas, unlike business issues, rarely fade away, they tend to fester; ethical dilemmas are best resolved by avoiding them from the beginning, the best way to do the is to engage the participants in a discussion of the potential problems and pitfalls; Finally, we may well expect the use of inside counsel to increase because of the rising legal fees charged by outside corporate counsel. Explain the details of the attorney-client privilege -- that the privilege belongs to the company, and the company and subsequently waive it. One scenario involves an in-house counsel for a retail brokerage firm who learned that an arbitration claim had been filed by a customer against the firm and one of its account executives. Counsel should take the following steps in order to provide himself with an ethical shield while allowing for productive fact-gathering: Tell the employee the reason for the meeting. The Corporate Counsel Committee of the American Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division recently solicited written responses from attorneys on the ethical concerns on in-house counsel. She also stated that what Company B was really taking about was her knowledge of the various technological processes and systems at the company -- knowledge that she could not simply erase from her mind. The firm's attorney concluded, moreover, that the allegations were weak. The letter also stated that one of the items in question related to a top-secret project that Company B was doing for the government and that, besides contemplating litigation, Company B had informed the local U. Company A should separate itself from its new employee as much as possible until she can clear herself. Whatever the reasons, the number of inside counsel is large and growing. There are times when a company's general counsel, at the outset, will want to have outside lawyers represent the company and its employees.
Common topics in this essay:
IN-HOUSE COUNSEL,
Law Journal,
Lawyers Division,
Company A's,
Company B's,
Professional Responsibility,
Fifth Amendment,
corporate counsel,
in-house counsel,
inside counsel,
multiple representation,
company company,
representing company,
separate counsel,
MARIE REISS,
separate counsel employee,
senior management,
company employee,
retain separate counsel,
firm's attorney,
independence judgment expected,
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Acceptance Essays
