Lawyers and firms routinely screen for potential conflicts of interests when taking on new clients. Conflicts of interest are common grounds for bar complaints or legal-malpractice claims because they suggest that a lawyer is not meeting their duty of loyalty to a client but are putting their own interests ahead of a client’s.

In a more salacious form, conflicts can also arise when lawyers begin romantic or sexual relationships with their clients. Engaging in intimate relations with current clients threatens not only the lawyer’s professional reputation and law license, it also can pose significant risk to colleagues and law firm partners. Sanctions from the bar can vary from temporary suspension to disbarment, depending on the severity of the conduct.