Altoona, PA asked in Criminal Law, Child Custody, Family Law and Legal Malpractice for Ohio

Q: Conflict of interest with law firm representing family in Ohio custody cases?

I was assisted by a lawyer at a firm in a criminal case, while a different lawyer from the same firm represented my parents in a custody case for my son. This firm also represents my brother and now represents my daughter, who is trying to take custody of my son. This has all occurred since 2013. I have not given consent for them to represent my family members or others involved. Could this situation present a conflict of interest?

2 Lawyer Answers

A: Possibly, but if the family law attorney has been partitioned off from anything in your criminal side, it likely would not constitute a conflict. If you are concerned, you can seek removal of the opposing counsel on the basis of conflict of interest.

Dimitrios Makridis agrees with this answer

A: I agree with my colleague if we indeed have the correct understanding of what's going on in your situation. It's not clear from your description whether or not any of these other individuals are opposing you as parties in a particular case. If this firm just happens to be representing various members of your family in different actions where you are not a party, then there is no conflict

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