Lawyers are not allowed to act for both parties in a legal dispute. Doing this would result in a conflict of interest. Avoiding a conflict of interest is important to ensure a lawyer is acting in the best interest of a client.

Great Southern Community Legal Services are not able to act against a client of ours. Once a person becomes our client, they will remain so even once that dispute has settled. If a conflict of interest is found, this may mean that we have seen the other party to that dispute in the past or it may be due to other factors.

Our confidentiality rules mean we are unable to give any further information about when or how this conflict of interest has occurred. If one of our team tells you that there is a conflict of interest -

• It does not mean that we do not want to help you.
• It means that we can’t help you due to our professional obligations.

If a conflict of interest is found or we become aware of one while assisting you, we must refer you elsewhere. This will usually be to another community legal centre, however may also be to Legal Aid or to a private lawyer.

Where we refer due to conflict of interest, generally we will seek your permission to contact that centre on your behalf. This is to ensure you are able to be assisted by that service, and makes sure your time is not wasted calling other services if they are unable to assist.