Conflict Avoidance

Bigger is not better when it comes to conflicts of interests. Our clients tell us that law firm mergers have led to increasing conflicts, and increasing conflicts have led to mounting requests for conflict waivers. Frequently, the dominant post-merger firm seeking the waiver is not the pre-merger firm that represented the client whose waiver is sought. In-house legal department concern about the direct relationship between firm mergers and firm conflicts has been noted in the national legal press. See "Bigger isn’t Better," NLJ March 2007.

Our size makes it easier for us to avoid conflicts. Each attorney knows who the firm’s clients are. Each client is a firm client and each has our undivided loyalty. Our size, responsiveness and efficiency permit us to thoroughly screen for conflicts in a matter of hours, not days or weeks. Indeed, in some areas – insurance coverage, for example –we avoid conflicts because we do not represent insurers in coverage disputes against policyholders or accept assignments as panel counsel dependent on any insurer for referrals.