In every sphere of life, we must make important decisions balancing different and often conflicting needs and interests. Conflicts of interest arise when an employee’s judgment can be affected due to a clash between personal or financial interests and professional duties.
Conflicts of interest in the legal profession can arise in a number of situations due to the complexities of the field. When two or more clients have conflicting interests, the duty to act in the best interests of each of our clients may mean that the firm’s responsibilities toward one client may conflict with its responsibilities toward another. A firm cannot reasonably represent both sides in a contractual dispute or advise both an investor and their potential investment.
For this reason, it’s important for organisations to have a clear conflicts of interest policy in place so that everyone will be on the same page when it comes to conflicts of interest. An effective policy should explain all that employees need to know about conflicts of interest, including assessing risks, knowing how to spot one, and how to act when you suspect a conflict.
VinciWorks along with our partners at Compliance Office have developed a new, comprehensive conflicts of interest policy template that organisations can use to set out their policy. The template is customisable so you can change the wording or add or delete sections depending on what is relevant for your organisation.
Click here to download and start customising your free copy of the conflicts of interest policy template today.
VinciWorks’ conflicts of interest training
Our conflicts of interest course for law firms trains staff members on different types of conflicts of interest that arise in the legal sector and how to navigate them. It presents the laws and principles that firms must follow whenever conflicts of interest are present.
Learning outcomes:
- Recognise conflicts of interest as they arise
- Understand why conflicts of interest must be avoided
- The dangers of bribery, corruption and gifts
- Be aware of the types of conflicts of interest faced specifically by law firms
- Understand when conflicts of interest are permitted
- Know how to manage and report conflicts of interest
The VinciWorks–Compliance Office partnership
VinciWorks has recently partnered with Compliance Office, the leading SRA consultancy firm, to offer you a full range of compliance training, software, and consultancy services.
Founded by Andy Donovan, a former SRA legal policy advisor, Compliance Office’s team of consultants draws on years of experience and a proprietary set of tools and templates to help law firms with all of their compliance needs. The merger enables VinciWorks to provide an end-to-end AML package including a CDD client onboarding tool, AML training and compliance consulting, as well as an all-in-one SRA solution that includes training, compliance software, and consultancy.
To learn more, email us at [email protected] or call +44 208 815 9308.
