Sunday, August 9, 2020

Conflict Withdrawals by 3 Attorneys in a Row

 

https://www.avvo.com/attorney-answers/53548-wi-jay-nixon-1529181/answers.html

So I'm on my 3rd representation in a felony case, now my current attorney tells the judge conflict?This is a case that has been going on for over 3 years now, due to myself getting sick and being incapacitated during the beginning from a illness. I have since recovered and court proceedings picked up where we left off. During the time we were adjourned the lawyer I retained, was eventually granted his withdrawal because I did not have funds. I was then appointed a PD. That took 7 months, for numerous reasons. After 10 months he decided to quit practicing law. So, I was without an attorney again. So, 8 months later a court appointed attorney took my case on. He has been my attorney since March now. We had court the other day and now he states their may be a conflict in the case? What does this mean? We just got a new date that’s it?

 Answer (Jay K. Nixon, Criminal Defense Atty. in Kenosha & Janesville, WI)

Telling the court that there is a conflict normally means an ethical conflict, under the WI Supreme Court's rules of professional responsibilities. This is very different than social ethics, since attorneys must raise it any time that there is a competing interest to which they are also obligated to attend to; for example, finding out that he represents a codefendant, which is always a conflict, since the DA might offer any defendant a better deal to testify against other codefendants. Clients who have threatened an attorney or threatened to file an ethics complaint against him are probably the second most common type of “conflict” withdrawal, but the list of things is almost endless. For the protection of the client, lawyers are not obligated to state specific reasons, since they might incriminate the client. Talk to the public defender's office about a replacement ASAP.

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