Conflict checks at law firm client intake, without delay
The conflict check is the one intake step that cannot be skipped and the one most likely to slow the first call down. A two-pass method keeps both the check and the caller.
To run conflict checks at client intake without slowing the first call, split the check in two. On first contact, capture every party's name and run a quick search before anyone hears the detail of the matter. Before terms go out, run the full check on everything the fee-earner has learned. A possible match stops the enquiry until a named person clears it.
This post sets out that two-pass method from an operations point of view: what to capture, when to search, who decides, and where firms commonly go wrong. The rules on conflicts are in the SRA Code of Conduct and the SRA's guidance, which we quote and link below. How your firm applies them, and who clears a possible conflict, is for your firm's procedure and your COLP. For the wider sequence, see our guide to the law firm client intake process.
What do the SRA rules say about conflicts of interest?
The SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors deals with conflicts in paragraphs 6.1 and 6.2.
Paragraph 6.1 says you do not act if there is an own interest conflict or a significant risk of one. Paragraph 6.2 says you do not act in relation to a matter, or a particular aspect of it, if you have a conflict of interest or a significant risk of one, unless the clients have a substantially common interest or are competing for the same objective, and three conditions are met: all the clients have given informed consent, given or evidenced in writing; where appropriate, effective safeguards protect their confidential information; and you are satisfied it is reasonable to act for all of them.
The SRA's guidance on conflicts of interest describes a client conflict as a situation where your separate duties to act in the best interests of two or more clients conflict. It also makes a point that shapes intake design directly: it is better to avoid a conflict arising in the first place by declining to take on a client where necessary, rather than have the conflict arise during the course of a retainer.
Confidentiality sits alongside this. Paragraph 6.3 of the Code requires you to keep the affairs of current and former clients confidential unless disclosure is required or permitted by law or the client consents. That matters at intake, because the conflict check is exactly the moment the firm is looking up other people's matters.
Why is the conflict check hard at intake?
Because the information needed to run it is in the caller's head, and the moment it comes out, the caller also wants to tell their story.
A typical first call goes: "I need help with my divorce. My husband has just moved out and..." Within a minute, before anyone has asked the husband's name, the firm has heard things it would not want to have heard if it already acts for him. If it turns out the firm does act for him, it has a problem that careful handling of the rest of the call cannot undo.
The other difficulty is time. A full conflict check can take a while, especially when a possible match needs a partner's judgement. A caller kept waiting on the line while that happens may well ring another firm.
What is the two-pass method for conflict checks?
Pass one: at first contact. The person taking the enquiry captures names before substance. The client's name and any former names; the other party's name, and any business or trading names; any other people obviously involved. They then keep the conversation to logistics: contact details, dates, how the person heard about the firm. As soon as possible, the same day, somebody runs a search of those names against the firm's client and matter records.
Pass two: before terms. Once a fee-earner has spoken to the client and the firm is minded to act, the fee-earner adds anything new: additional parties, related companies, addresses, connected people. The full check is run on the complete list, and cleared, before the client care letter or engagement letter goes out.
The first pass protects the firm from hearing too much. The second catches what the first could not know.
What should be captured for a conflict search?
A practical list for pass one. Adapt it to your practice areas:
- Client's full name, spelling confirmed, and former names.
- Other party's full name, spelling confirmed, and former names.
- Business names, trading names and company numbers where relevant.
- Other people involved: a co-owner, the other parent, a director, an insurer, an executor.
- Property address, for property matters.
- Who is calling, if not the client (a relative, an employee, a referrer).
Our law firm client intake form template sets these out as a separate tier, so they can be completed before the detailed conversation.
How do you stop a caller telling you too much before the check?
With a short, honest script. Suggested wording (agree your own with your COLP):
"Before you tell me about what's happened, could I take a couple of names? We need to check we're free to help you before we go into detail. It only takes a moment, and then the solicitor can talk it all through with you properly."
Callers usually accept that, because it sounds careful rather than bureaucratic. If a caller starts giving detail anyway, the person taking the call can gently steer back: "That's really helpful for the solicitor. Can I just take the other person's name first?"
Who decides whether a match is a conflict?
A named person, under the firm's written procedure. Not the person who ran the search, unless that is their role.
Many searches return nothing. Some return an obvious match (the firm acts for the other party in the same matter). Others return a possible match: a similar name, a former client, a related company. Those need judgement. The procedure should say:
- who reviews a possible match, and who covers when they are away;
- how quickly they should decide;
- what the intake team tells the caller while they wait;
- how the decision and the reasons are recorded.
The SRA guidance does not, as far as we can find, prescribe a particular recording format. Recording what was searched, what was found and who decided what is sound practice regardless, and your COLP can set the standard.
What do you tell a caller if there is a conflict?
As little as possible, politely. The firm cannot explain why it cannot act without risking the confidentiality of another client. A short, neutral line such as "I'm sorry, we're not able to help with this matter, but here are some other firms you could contact" is usually enough. Agree the exact wording with your COLP and use it every time, so nobody improvises.
Do not suggest the reason, do not say "we act for the other side", and do not imply the caller has done anything wrong.
A worked example: two passes on one enquiry
Here is a hypothetical enquiry, with invented details.
On a Tuesday afternoon a caller rings about a dispute with a former business partner over a jointly owned company. Pass one captures the caller's name, the former partner's name, and the company's name and number. The caller starts to explain the falling out; the person taking the call asks to take the names first, then books a call back for the next morning.
At 4pm the search runs. It returns a possible match: the firm acted three years ago on a property purchase for someone with the same surname as the former partner. The named partner looks at the old file the same afternoon, confirms it is a different person with a different address, records the decision and clears the enquiry.
On Wednesday the fee-earner calls. During the conversation, it emerges that a third shareholder is involved, and that the company has a lender. Both names are added. Pass two runs on Wednesday afternoon, returns nothing, and terms go out on Thursday.
The caller never waited on the line for a search. The firm never heard the story until it knew it could.
What are the common conflict check mistakes at intake?
- Taking the story first. The most common and the hardest to undo.
- Searching only the other party. Former names, companies and connected people are where matches hide.
- Misspelt names. A search on "Macdonald" misses "McDonald". Confirm spellings, and search variants.
- One pass only. New parties emerge on the fee-earner's call. If there is no second pass, they are never checked.
- No cover for the decision-maker. The partner who clears matches is on holiday, and every possible match waits a week.
- Improvised declines. Somebody says too much about why the firm cannot help.
How does the conflict check fit the rest of intake?
It sits between capture and the fee-earner's first detailed conversation, and again before terms. In our client intake process flow chart it is step 5 (the quick search), step 5a (clearing a possible match), and part of step 9 (the full check). It needs to be quick enough that it does not become the reason an enquiry is lost, and careful enough that it does the job. For how the cleared matter is then handed to the fee-earner, see our post on law firm client handoffs. For the related question of how client information is handled when AI tools are involved, see AI and client confidentiality for solicitors.
Where WasilX fits
Cam, our AI Engagement Coordinator, takes first contact on the firm's line at any hour. It says it is AI, asks the firm's own qualifying questions in the order the firm sets, which can put names before substance, books the call back and sends the firm a summary. Cam does not run or clear conflict checks; that stays with the firm's people and procedure. If you would like to talk through your own first-contact questions, start a conversation.
Frequently asked questions
When should a law firm run a conflict check? Before anyone at the firm hears the detail of the matter, and again in full before terms are sent. The SRA's guidance says it is better to avoid a conflict arising by declining at the outset than to have one arise during a retainer.
What information is needed for a conflict check? The client's and other party's full names and former names, business and trading names, other people involved, property addresses for property matters, and who is calling if it is not the client.
Who should clear a possible conflict? A named person under the firm's written procedure, with cover when they are away. Your COLP can confirm who that is in your firm.
What should you tell a caller when there is a conflict? As little as possible: a short, neutral statement that the firm cannot help with this matter, and ideally where else they could go. Never explain the reason, as that could reveal another client's confidential information.
Can software run conflict checks? Software can run the name search and record the result. Deciding whether a possible match is a conflict is a judgement for the person your procedure names.