Legal Opinion: Conflict of Interests

(asked on 29th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will investigate the risk of a legal and best advice conflict of interest arising in cases where one party to a transaction both (a) chooses and (b) funds the legal advice of the counter-party; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
James Cartlidge Portrait
James Cartlidge
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This question was answered on 4th July 2022

Conflict of interest in the provision of legal advice is guided by professional ethics. The legal profession in England and Wales is independent of government, as is the legal regulatory structure, for which the Legal Services Board has oversight responsibility.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the approved regulator of solicitors in England and Wales. The SRA has a detailed Code of Conduct for solicitors including conflict of interest provisions which cover situations where a conflict of interest, or a serious risk of such a conflict arises, for example when a solicitor is acting for two or more clients. The Ministry of Justice therefore has no plans to investigate this issue.

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