Can Your Ex-Spouse Disqualify Your Divorce Lawyer?
When you file for divorce, your ex-spouse might try to disrupt aspects of your life that you take for granted, just to mess with you. For example, provided that you have not changed the locks, your ex might come to your house when you are not home and remove furniture that you did not decide that your ex would take. Your ex might close your bank account, leaving you scrambling to get the money to the mortgage lender and utility companies before you lose your house or your electricity gets shut off, and that is if you have a job; if you don’t, you scramble to borrow from family members or friends in time to avoid financial catastrophe. All of these are undeniably stinky moves by your ex, but what if your ex tries to disqualify your divorce lawyer? It could just be a case of your ex doing everything possible to make your life difficult, but your ex could be right that it is unfair for your lawyer to work on this particular divorce case. It is possible for Alabama courts to disqualify lawyers from their cases when there is a legitimate conflict of interest. To find out more about avoiding conflicts of interest in your divorce case, contact a Birmingham divorce lawyer.
Alabama Divorce Cases Involving Attorney-Client Conflicts of Interest
A conflict of interest with a divorce lawyer exists if the lawyer representing one spouse has previously represented the other spouse in another legal matter, such that the lawyer would have substantial knowledge about the opposing spouse’s finances. These are some decisions that Alabama courts have made about conflicts of interest in divorce cases:
- Gause v. Gause – In the late 1970s, a lawyer represented the couple as plaintiffs in a debt collection lawsuit and represented the husband in a small claims case. In the 1980s, the couple separated, and the wife hired the same lawyer to represent her in the divorce. The court ruled that there was no conflict of interest.
- Cleland v. Cleland – The wife hired a lawyer to prepare her will. Years later, when the couple divorced, the husband hired the same lawyer to represent him. The court ruled that there was a conflict of interest, because the lawyer already knew a lot about the wife’s finances, based on his work on her estate plan.
- Kurbitz v. Kurbitz – The husband hired a lawyer to represent him during the probate of his mother’s estate. When the couple divorced years later, the wife hired a different lawyer from the same law firm; the lawyer who had represented the husband had since died. The court ruled that a conflict of interest existed, because lawyers working together in the same law firm often share information that they cannot share with anyone outside the law firm.
Contact Peeples Law About Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
A Birmingham family law attorney can help you determine whether any conflicts of interest can prevent the attorney-client relationship from moving forward. Contact Peeples Law today to schedule a consultation.
Source:
law.ua.edu/pubs/jlp_files/issues_files/vol07/vol07art07.pdf
