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Can one lawyer represent two people? Conflicts of Interest - YouTube
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in this video we're talking about
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conflicts of interest and specifically
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whether one lawyer or one defense law
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firm like ours can represent two
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different peoples so two separate
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individuals also charged with crimes
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they may be from the same incident they
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may be from separate incidents and the
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short answer is to whether or not that's
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a good idea is that no it's not really a
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good idea to represent two people
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because there's an inherent possibility
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that one person may take some advantage
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of the other person or that the law firm
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or the attorney can use information by
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one person against the other person and
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so you just want to make sure that
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there's no conflict of interest the firm
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the lawyer owes the same duties the same
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responsibilities the same rights the
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same level of representation to both
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individuals and so when you have two of
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them there's a possibility that one
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person may be a favor to one be
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benefited against the other so it's
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called a conflict of interest generally
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it's not a good idea to represent two
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people but you can do it you can do it
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in a situation where both of these
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people have interests that are aligned
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and they both have informed and there's
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written consent that they know that this
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is happening in other words they are
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agreeing and they are allowing the law
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firm to do that they're saying we
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understand there is a potential for a
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conflict here that being said we're
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going to acknowledge that we're gonna
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waive any any problems with that and
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we're gonna allow the firm or the lawyer
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to represent us both and there may be
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situations where that's to their benefit
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that's the both of their benefits so
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let's take a quick example let's say
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that in a hypothetical situation there's
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this delicious candy bar and it was
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stolen the police come around they're
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investigating who stole the candy bar
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and now they're looking at a and B they
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pull them aside they question a and B
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and they say we believe that you both
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stole this candy bar and so we're gonna
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charge you both with a crime so now a
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and B they come to our law firm and they
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say hey look we were both charged with a
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crime we want the best representation we
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want the best criminal defense lawyer so
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naturally we came to the R in our law
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group and we need help with this we say
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look we can only represent one of you
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because there is a possibility that the
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government may want one of you to go
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against the other one therefore we think
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there's a conflict of interest we can't
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represent you well if both a and
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say we understand that there is a
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potential for a conflict but we are 100%
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certain were 100% in alignment we did
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not do this I did not do it as a B I did
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not do it as B there's nothing there's
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no reason why there's gonna be us
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pointing our fingers at one another in
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that case if they sign some informed
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consent and we all agree to it and it
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seems like it's a good fit and the facts
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of the case are reviewed by our
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attorneys and we decide this is
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something we want to engage in we can
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decide we'll move forward and will
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represent them both the downside to this
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would be if at a later time a and B they
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get plea offers or the the prosecutor
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comes to our office and they say well
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we'll give B a deal so long as a takes
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the fall for this thing so if B that
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agrees that he's going to testify
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against a and B is gonna get a good deal
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now our firm as the defense attorneys we
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have to get off both cases we now know
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that there's a conflict that has been
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developed and so we have to get off both
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cases so that's where it becomes kind of
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an issue for defense lawyers if you know
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or foresee that that is going to be a
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possibility you want to make sure that
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you're not even going down that road but
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in the event that they the government
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comes and they offer be a plea deal and
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we can say B says 100% did not do it I'm
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not taking any deal and they're going to
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be in full alignment and there's not
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going to be any conflicts there because
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their interests are aligned both a and B
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are saying that C did it their interests
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are not going to be conflicting with one
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another that representation might be
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okay but if that if that perceived
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conflict if there is a conflict if
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there's any whatsoever any potential of
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a and B pointing their fingers at one
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another and not pointing it towards C
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that attorney is going to have to get
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off both cases and both attorneys are
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going or both individuals both a and B
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are then going to have to go and get
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their own separate counsel so it's not
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something that we do frequently but
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sometimes the interests are aligned it
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may be beneficial to have one attorney
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on both cases if both a and B are saying
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look we both have evidence and we know
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that C did it we know that this happened
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and here's why here's the evidence we
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want to work together on this thing
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because we are being wrongfully accused
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we're being wrongfully
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convicted or simply they don't know who
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did it but it wasn't either one of them
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there may be some strength there but the
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government will see that and what
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they're going to try to do is create
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that conflict or force one to go against
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the other one so this is a simple candy
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bar case okay in reality these can be
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very complicated there can be multiple
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different levels of conflicts there can
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be multiple other parties you can draw
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out the entire alphabet in big
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complicated cases that are involving
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multiple defendants but generally this
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is the principle it's usually a good
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idea to have your own attorney but there
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are some situations where both people's
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interests are aligned and the likelihood
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of a conflict is just not going to come
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up due to the facts
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due to the criminal charges and those
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types of things so if this applies to
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you I hope this helps if you want to
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speak with our office we offer a free
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case evaluation we're happy to sit down
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with you and talk it through thanks for
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watching
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