The absolute bar on acting where a solicitor's own interests conflict with a client's — a prohibition no amount of client consent can lift.
Unlike a conflict between two clients, a conflict between solicitor and client cannot be managed; it ends the retainer. This chapter starts with the rule itself: the risk threshold that triggers the prohibition and why informed consent offers no escape. It then surveys the personal interests that create the danger — financial stakes, personal and family relationships, and business ties such as referral arrangements — before setting out what a solicitor must do when a conflict surfaces mid-retainer, including the handover of the client's file. The final sections deal with two situations that catch candidates out: the solicitor's own error that may have caused the client loss, and the gift in a will to a solicitor or connected person, with the factors that make a gift significant and the advice the client must be given.
