“Inherent, Obvious, and Blatant” Conflict

An Arkansas committee has imposed a suspension of 24 months of an attorney who had engaged in conduct that included failure to provide competent and dilgent representation to a client he had been retained by to defend a civil claim.

Matters got worse when the client hired new counsel, who wrote to the attorney advising him of a legal malpractice claim. Notwithstanding that arrestion, the attorney continued to represent the client in a bankruptcy matter: an “inherent, obvious, and blatant conflict [of interest…].” There was no waiver of the conflict. (Mike Frisch)