Run Conflict Checks 80% Faster with CaseFox

A conflict check is a quick process that a firm does before onboarding a new client or case to make sure there are no conflicting interests. It helps prevent ethical problems by ensuring the firm isn't already involved with an opposing party.

A conflict check software, such as CaseFox, helps law firms quickly search their client and case databases to find any conflicts of interest. Instead of manually going through each record or taking risks with clients, this software helps ease the process, saving time and preventing any sort of mishaps down the line.

At a law firm, a conflict check is an important and mandatory process when you collect details about a new client or case and look through the firm's records to see if there might be any conflicts with current or past clients.

CaseFox makes this process simple and fast by letting you enter client names and instantly scan for conflicts across your entire database during intake. Its smart system checks both sides of a case, including family or connected individuals, helping you avoid ethical issues when taking on new work.

A conflict of interest arises in a law firm when representing one client would be damaging to another client or case. The earlier an attorney identifies conflict issues, the better for the clients and the law firm.

The following types of conflict should be noted:

Opposing Clients: This refers to the representation of clients whose interests are either directly or potentially in conflict.

Confidential Information Risks: By using sensitive information from previous cases, he/she threaten another person.

Personal and Financial Interests: When a lawyer's interests interfere with their loyalty to the client.

CaseFox assists law firms in identifying conflicts by fast and precise checks during the client intake procedure.

Common mistakes include relying on memory instead of systems, using outdated client details, inconsistently recording data, not checking all relevant parties, and failing to update records when staff leave. Additionally, the lack of proper procedures and audit trails means that the conflicts are not adequately monitored, which could have other ethical repercussions and harm the company's reputation.

Manual conflict checks on paper files or spreadsheets can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours, depending on the firm and case.

However, CaseFox conflict check software takes a few seconds to run a thorough check and identify any potential issues with a complete audit trail for compliance.

Legal software tools such as CaseFox help identify potential conflicts of interest by scanning clients, contacts, and cases. CaseFox uses smart name matching and searches in multiple languages to find even the smallest variations or spelling errors. The system also checks related parties. With the ABA-compliance process, conflict checks can be initiated instantly during client intake.

Law firms identify potential conflicts by examining their current and past clients and cases to ascertain if representing a new client would compromise their responsibilities to another client. This usually includes searching client databases and case records, together with related parties, for the relevant information. Many firms use CaseFox, which automatically conducts name variation and multiple language searches in the database to check for conflicts of interest.