Navigating conflicts of interest

By Anatoly Dvorkin and Matthew Rendely ( October 13, 2016, 8:00 PM EDT) -- All lawyers are duty-bound to avoid conflicts of interest. However, this task is not always as easy as it may seem. In our view, the practice area that is most fraught with potential conflicts is business law. Lawyers who engage in drafting business agreements, deal with mergers and acquisitions and who act for corporate clients must be extra vigilant in avoiding conflicts of interest. To do so, the lawyer’s first and most important task is to identify precisely who the client is and who the client is not....