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ARTICLE · 22 JULY 2024

Practical Strategies For Conflicts Involving Prospective Clients

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
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Contacts with prospective clients may limit a lawyer's ability to represent other parties involved with a prospective client's matters.

United StatesLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Carole Buckner
Carole Buckner
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Contacts with prospective clients may limit a lawyer's ability to represent other parties involved with a prospective client's matters. For example, a client might contact a lawyer and provide confidential information in order to disqualify the lawyer from representation of the client's adversary. But lawyers may take reasonable measures to limit consultations with prospective clients to preserve the ability to represent other parties in connection with the same or related matters. ABA Formal Opinion 510, issued in March 2024, provides excellent practical guidance to lawyers in handling consultations with prospective clients, and lays out multiple measures lawyers may take to limit the risk of disqualification based on such consultations.

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