These are the speaking notes from David Phillip Jones, Q.C.’s presentation to the NWT Law Society in June 2019.

These speaking notes address two particular issues:

a. conflicts which arise when a lawyer is acting for a corporation, and then the shareholders, directors, or senior officers end up in a dispute, and the lawyer takes
the side of one individual while continuing to provide legal services for the company as a whole; and

b. conflicts which arise when a lawyer is asked to investigate disciplinary complaints against other lawyers with whom they are familiar.

In addition, I have added in some material about lawyers’ conflicts when acting for estate executors who are also beneficiaries.

This paper will outline some general principles regarding lawyers’ conflicts of interest and then discuss them in the context of those particular situations.