Patents, Ethics and Conflicts - The Fatal Choices

Of all the decisions that you make almost every day in your practice of patent law, the most significant are those deciding whether to accept a new clients, or to refuse the clients, because of a perceived conflict with present or past clients. Making the wrong decision can have the most grave consequences. And yet the decision is often made hastily, sometimes by default, with incomplete facts in hand. Conflicts of interest of all kinds arguably present the most serious legal malpractice threat to law firms of all types, and particularly patent law firms. We look at conflicts caused by two clients with averse interests, and conflicts caused by an attorney doing business with a client, and examine a court decision that is guaranteed to scare the hell out of you.

Approved Jurisdictions	Credit Hours	Credit Type
AZ CA CO GA ME MO MT NC ND NY OK PA TN TX VA WA WV	1	Ethics