[textbook]Traversing the Ethical Minefield Problems, Law, and Professional Responsibility by Susan R. Martyn (z-lib.org)(1) (1)

Following these procedures will not prevent conflicts, but they do put lawyers in a
position to know about them and respond appropriately. Two things are certain. First,
lawyers must know both the conflicts rules and the provisions about screening if they are to
have any hope of convincing a client to consent to a screen or a court to accept an
involuntary substitute. Second, the law governing lawyers (recall A. v. B., Chapter 9 and
Western Sugar, Chapters 9 & 11) makes clear that failure to discover a conflict is no defense
to client or former client remedies, such as discipline, disqualification, or fee forfeiture. 27
Model Rule 6.5
Problem
11-6. Martyn & Fox agrees to staff a hotline for the local legal services project every
Tuesday. One Tuesday, a Martyn & Fox associate received a phone call from an individual
who has been the victim of predatory lending by The Dollar Store. Without seeing any
documents, the associate gave the woman advice about possible remedies, only to learn
upon returning to the firm that Big Bank, Martyn & Fox’s largest client, owns The Dollar
Store. Is Martyn & Fox in trouble?
D. Government Client Conflicts Model Rules 1.11 RLGL § 133
Government lawyers and officials such as judges are governed by special conflicts rules,
including Model Rules 1.11 and 1.12, as well as statutes and government regulations that
govern conflict of interest. These rules seek to protect former government clients and to
prevent lawyers from exploiting public employment for the benefit of others. They differ
both in scope of individual disqualification and the situations in which screening is
permitted. The basics of these rules are summarized in the following chart.
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