famous conflict of interest cases
The first route was preventive, meant to avoid the waste of costly after-the-fact litigation where the risk was clear and easily avoidable by a reasonably vigilant trial judge; the second was retrospective, with a markedly heavier burden justified when the judiciary was not at fault, but at least alleviated by dispensing with any need to show prejudice. Loyalty to a client is also impaired when a lawyer cannot consider, recommend or carry out an appropriate course of action for the client because of the lawyer's other responsibilities or interests"). Thus, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure treat concurrent representation and prior representation differently, requiring a trial court to inquire into the likelihood of conflict whenever jointly charged defendants are represented by a single attorney (Rule 44(c)), but not when counsel previously represented another defendant in a substantially related matter, even where the trial court is aware of the prior representation.6 See Sullivan, supra, at 346, n.10 (citing the Rule). See ante, at 3 ("[I]t also follows that defects in assistance that have no probable effect upon the trial's outcome do not establish a constitutional violation"). That incentive is needed least when defense counsel points out the risk with a formal objection, and needed most with the lawyer who keeps risk to himself, quite possibly out of self-interest. All rights reserved. Laboratory personnel shall avoid situations that cause actual or apparent conflicts of interest, and take steps to resolve those that . Ante, at 6-7, n.2. Multifarious examples of conflict of interest are reported around the world, day-to-day. . The Court had just cited and quoted Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475 (1978), which held that the judge was obligated to enquire into the risk of a prospective conflict, id., at 484. The code is intended not as a set of "rules" but as a resource for ethical decision-making. Cf. Without inquiry, the trial court had denied counsel's motions for the appointment of separate counsel and had refused to allow counsel to cross-examine any of the defendants on behalf of the other two. This problem is typically found in . The distinction is irrational on its face, it creates a scheme of incentives to judicial vigilance that is weakest in those cases presenting the greatest risk of conflict and unfair trial, and it reduces the so-called judicial duty to enquire into so many empty words. We have used "actual conflict of interest" elsewhere to mean what was required to be shown in Sullivan. February 28, 2023, 10:26 AM. However, "a reviewing court cannot presume that the possibility for conflict has resulted in ineffective assistance of . In most multiple-representation cases, it will take just such an objection to alert a trial judge to prospective conflict, and the Cuyler Court reaffirmed that the judge is obliged to take reasonable prospective action whenever a timely objection is made. The "visceral impact," however, arises out of the obvious, unusual nature of the conflict. Cuyler, supra, at 349. 450 U.S., at 262-263. Discussing the necessity of full disclosure to the preservation of the lawyer-client relationship, Justice Story stated: "I agree to the doctrine urged at the bar, as to the delicacy of the relation of client and attorney, and the duty of a full, frank, and free disclosure by the latter of every circumstance, which may be presumed to be material, not merely to the interests, but to the fair exercise of the judgment, of the client.". The producers of one of the most famous brands in the automobile industry, Mercedez-Benz, paid $185 million to the United States against charges of bribery and corruption in 2010. 1979, No. Brief for Legal Ethicists etal. Contact us. The State indicated that defense counsel labored under a possible conflict of interests between the employer and the defendants, but it was not the conflict in issue here, and so, from the Wood Court's perspective, the State's objection, though a relevant fact in alerting the judge like the fact of multiple representation in Cuyler, v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335 (1980), was not sufficient to put the judge on notice of his constitutional duty to enquire into a "particular conflict," id., at 347. The first critical stage in the defense of a capital case is the series of pretrial meetings between the accused and his counsel when they decide how the case should be defended. We use United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 653-654 (1984) ("`Of all the rights that an accused person has, the right to be represented by counsel is by far the most pervasive for it affects his ability to assert any other rights he may have'") (citation omitted)). The problem with this carefully concealed "coherent scheme" (no case has ever mentioned it) is that in Wood itself the court did not decree automatic reversal, even though it found that "the possibility of a conflict of interest was sufficiently apparent at the time of the revocation hearing to impose upon the court a duty to inquire further." Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 347 (1980).8 But when, as was true in this case, the judge is not merely reviewing the permissibility of the defendants' choice of counsel, but is responsible for making the choice herself, and when she knows or should know that a conflict does exist, the duty to make a thorough inquiry is manifest and unqualified.9 Indeed, under far less compelling circumstances, we squarely held that when a record discloses the "possibility of a conflict" between the interests of the defendants and the interests of the party paying their counsel's fees, the Constitution imposes a duty of inquiry on the state- court judge even when no objection was made. On March 23, 1978, defendants appeared for arraignment and the case was continued to the following day for the appointment of counsel and an interpreter. See id., at 608 ("[T]he record here dispels the contention that the failure to use negative information about Hall is attributable to any conflict of interest on the part of Saunders"). I believe that, in a case such as this one, a categorical approach is warranted and automatic reversal is required. Id., at 273. In resolving this case on the grounds on which it was presented to us, we do not rule upon the need for the Sullivan prophylaxis in cases of successive representation. Moreover, petitioner's proposed rule of automatic reversal makes little policy sense. 240 F.3d 348, 357 (CA4 2001). Wood did not hold that in the absence of objection, the Cuyler rule governs even when a judge is prospectively on notice of a risk of conflicted counsel. Pp. See Wheat v. United States, 486 U.S. 153, 161 (1988). A director owes a duty to avoid conflicts of interests, including through the exploitation of a corporate opportunity. . Why, then, pretend contrary to fact that a judge can never perceive a risk unless a lawyer points it out? Apple versus Samsung. Stevens, J., filed a dissenting opinion. The fines were so high that the original sentencing assumption must have been that the store and theater owner would pay them; defense counsel was paid by the employer, at least during the trial; the State pointed out a possible conflict to the judge;5 and counsel was attacking the fines with an equal protection argument, which weakened the strategy more obviously in the defendants' interest, of requesting the court to reduce the fines or defer their collection. We have held in several cases that "circumstances of that magnitude" may also arise when the defendant's attorney actively represented conflicting interests. University Publications of America, National Reporter on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Vols. Some Courts of Appeals have read a footnote in Wood v. Georgia, 450 U.S. 261, 272, n.18 (1981), as establishing that outright reversal is mandated when the trial court neglects a duty to inquire into a potential conflict of interest. Petitioner no longer argues, as he did below and as Justice Souter does now, post, at 14 (dissenting opinion), that the Sixth Amendment requires reversal of his conviction without further inquiry into whether the potential conflict that the judge should have investigated was real. The District Court found that Saunders did not believe he had any obligation to his former client, Timothy Hall, that would interfere with the litigation. 2d, at 613-615; see n.1, supra. Holloway thus creates an automatic reversal rule only where defense counsel is forced to represent codefendants over his timely objection, unless the trial court has determined that there is no conflict. The U.S. House of Representatives is subpoenaing the National Labor Relations Board over alleged ethical violations, including one member's involvement in a McDonald's joint employer case. The presumption was justified because joint representation of conflicting interests is inherently suspect, and because counsel's conflicting obligations to multiple defendants "effectively sea[l] his lips on crucial matters" and make it difficult to measure the precise harm arising from counsel's errors. Disclosing any potential conflict of interest is considered essential for the integrity of medical research. The judge's duty independent of objection, as described in Cuyler and Wood, is made concrete by reversal for failure to honor it. The majority says that in circumstances like those now before us, we have already held such an objection necessary for reversal, absent proof of actual conflict with adverse effect, so that this case calls simply for the application of precedent, albeit precedent not very clearly stated. No "inquiry" by the trial judge could have shed more light on the conflict than was obvious on the face of the matter, namely, that the lawyer who would represent Mickens today is the same lawyer who yesterday represented Mickens' alleged victim in a criminal case. Counsel made no objection to the multiple representation before or during trial, ibid. See Cronic, supra, at 658-659; see also Geders v. United States, 425 U.S. 80, 91 (1976); Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 344-345 (1963). 44(c), 18 U.S.C. Yet even with extensive investigation in post-trial proceedings, it will often prove difficult, if not impossible, to determine whether the prior representation affected defense counsel's decisions regarding, for example: which avenues to take when investigating the victim's background; which witnesses to call; what type of impeachment to undertake; which arguments to make to the jury; what language to use to characterize the victim; and, as a general matter, what basic strategy to adopt at the sentencing stage. Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U. S. 475, 484 (1978). Despite knowledge of the lawyer's prior representation, she violated that duty. In Sullivan, no "special circumstances" triggered the trial court's duty to inquire. The Court today holds, instead, that Mickens should be denied this remedy because Saunders failed to employ a formal objection as a means of bringing home to the appointing judge the risk of conflict. This seems to us less a categorical rule of decision than a restatement of the issue to be decided. Here are just five types of conflicts of interest: 1. As a reviewing court, our role is not to speculate about counsel's motives or about the plausibility of alternative litigation strategies. 11-16 in Wood v. Georgia, O.T. See cases cited ante, at 10-11. It is the Court's rule that leads to an anomalous result. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. Sometimes, an institution desires one result rather than another for purely self-interested reasons. The court said in the 2014 case that a lawyer who faces a conflict between two current clients can't avoid current-client conflict rules by dropping one client "like a hot potato." But in the majority's eyes, this conclusion takes insufficient account of Wood, whatever may have been the sensible scheme staked out by Holloway and Cuyler, with a defendant's burden turning on whether a court was apprised of a conflicts problem prospectively or retrospectively. You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. As classic example of the Board's view early BER Cases (e.g, 59-3, 60-5, 62-7, 63-5) where the Board strictly viewed the obligation of engineers to avoid conflicts of interest. Learn more about FindLaws newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. The Court, in addition to ignoring the mandate of Wood, reads Sullivan too narrowly. Despite Justice Souter's belief that there must be a threat of sanction (to-wit, the risk of conferring a windfall upon the defendant) in order to induce "resolutely obdurate" trial judges to follow the law, post, at 20, we do not presume that judges are as careless or as partial as those police officers who need the incentive of the exclusionary rule, see United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 916-917 (1984). . The District Court held an evidentiary hearing and denied petitioner's habeas petition. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 694. " Id., at 272, and n.20. See 450 U.S., at 265, n.5 ("It is unlikely that [the lawyer on whom the conflict of interest charge focused] would concede that he had continued improperly to act as counsel"). Dretke, an infamous capital case involving racial discrimination in jury selection. He had a duty to protect the reputation and confidences of his deceased client, and a duty to impeach the impact evidence presented by the prosecutor.4, Saunders' conflicting obligations to his deceased client, on the one hand, and to his living client, on the other, were unquestionably sufficient to give Mickens the right to insist on different representation.5 For the "right to counsel guaranteed by the Constitution contemplates the services of an attorney devoted solely to the interests of his client," Von Moltke v. Gillies, 332 U.S. 708, 725 (1948).6 Moreover, in my judgment, the right to conflict-free counsel is just as firmly protected by the Constitution as the defendant's right of self-representation recognized in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975).7. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 685-686 (1984). See 74 F.Supp. Engaging in nepotism: Mixing personal relationships with professional ones can easily add up to conflicts of interest. Ibid. The Court noted that counsel stated he had sent a letter to the trial court after sentencing, saying the fines were more than the defendants could afford, id., at 268, n.13, a move obviously in the defendants' interest. This strategy was rejected as likely to backfire, not only by Saunders, but also by his co-counsel, who owed no duty to Hall. Counsel's objection in Holloway was important as a fact sufficient to put the judge on notice that he should enquire. Cronic, supra, at 659, n.26. Id., at 14. Since, in the Court's view, counsel's emphasis on the equal protection claim was one of the facts that together put the judge on notice of something amiss, and since the record shows that it was not clear that counsel was favoring the equal protection argument until, at the earliest, the very close of the revocation hearing, and more likely the day he filed his motion two weeks later, the Court could only have meant that the judge was put on notice of a conflict that may actually have occurred, not of a potential conflict that might occur later.7 At that point, as the Court saw it, there were only two further facts the judge would have needed to know to determine whether there had been an actual disqualifying conflict, and those were whether a concern for the interest of the employer had weakened the lawyer's arguments for leniency, and whether the defendants had been informed of the conflict and waived their rights to unconflicted counsel. Id., at 356-357. Robin Thicke versus Marvin Gaye. The constitutional rule binding the state courts is thus more lenient than Rule 44(c) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which provides: "Whenever two or more defendants have been jointly charged pursuant to Rule 8(b) or have been joined for trial pursuant to Rule 13, and are represented by the same retained or assigned counsel or by retained or assigned counsel who are associated in the practice of law, the court shall promptly inquire with respect to such joint representation and shall personally advise each defendant of the right to the effective assistance of counsel, including separate representation. The Laboratory is contractually required to be free of actual or apparent conflicts of interest. Its principal objects were to hold and manage the general reserve fund of the Government of Brunei and all external assets and to provide the Government with money management services. 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