BarbriSFCourseDetails
  • videocam Live Online with Live Q&A
  • calendar_month November 5, 2025 @ 1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
  • signal_cellular_alt Intermediate
  • card_travel Ethics and Specialty Credits
  • schedule 90 minutes

Attorney Conflicts of Interest and Prohibited Transactions: Identifying and Resolving Ethical Challenges

Strategies to Minimize the Risk of Ethics Violations and Malpractice Claims

$197.00

This course is $0 with these passes:

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Description

Conflicts of interest are a daily concern for most practitioners. Potential conflicts come in many forms, impacting business transactions or engaging in prohibited transactions, representations of multiple individuals, interactions with current clients, and decisions to take on new clients, to name just a few. Attorneys should be aware of prohibited transactions and other various types of conflicts, how to waive those conflicts, and avoid issues stemming from conflicts and prohibited transactions.

Client consent can resolve many conflicts. However, the effectiveness of conflict waivers can vary, depending on the nature of the conflict, the timing of the waiver request, and whether the client is a current or former client. Conflicts must be anticipated and addressed in engagement letters.

Listen as our panel of attorneys experienced in ethics issues discusses how to identify potential conflicts and prohibited transaction issues and outlines best practices for avoiding or resolving those conflicts.

Presented By

Jennifer S. Bovitz
Shareholder and Associate General Counsel
Bassford Remele

Ms. Bovitz is a shareholder, trial lawyer, and associate general counsel at Bassford Remele, with decades of experience as a trial and appellate lawyer. Jennifer has demonstrated success in serious criminal, complex civil and appellate matters. She has successfully obtained full defense verdicts on behalf of healthcare clients as well as dismissals of regulatory complaints. Ms. Bovitz litigates and serves as trial counsel in medical and legal malpractice cases in addition to representing professionals in regulatory matters before the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, Board on Judicial Standards, and all health licensing Boards. As a former prosecutor, she gained significant jury trial experience prosecuting serious felonies. In addition to her criminal and civil litigation and trial experience, Ms. Bovitz is an experienced ethics lawyer who served as a Managing Attorney at the Minnesota Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility where she investigated and litigated attorney discipline and reinstatement matters. She is a frequent CLE presenter and ethics columnist and has served as adjunct faculty at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

Michael P. McDonald
Attorney
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Mr. McDonald primarily represents investment advisors and broker-dealers, providing regulatory counseling services to firms at all stages of their development. He specializes in providing legal and compliance support for investment advisors and broker-dealers to assist them in navigating financial services regulation, examinations and enforcement proceedings. To his practice, Mr. McDonald brings experience as an in-house counsel and senior compliance analyst at an RIA with approximately $80 billion in AUM, as well as in-house experience at a dually registered Broker-Dealer. He has also worked as a Regulatory Affairs Counsel at the Financial Services Institute and has spent time working with the Investment Adviser Association and the SEC's Divisions of Enforcement and Trading and Markets. Mr. McDonald has significant, hands-on experience managing compliance programs, including drafting regulatory filings, managing and monitoring a code of ethics, reviewing and approving marketing materials as well as responding to requests from clients and regulators. He has provided his insight to Financial Advisor IQ and his thought pieces on investment advisor and broker-dealer compliance have been published by Law360 and NYU’s Program on Corporate Compliance.”

Credit Information
  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

  • An excellent opportunity to earn Ethics CLE credits. Note: BARBRI cannot guarantee that this course will be approved for ethics credits in all states. To confirm, please contact our CLE department at pdservice@barbri.com.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Date + Time

  • event

    Wednesday, November 5, 2025

  • schedule

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

I. Identifying sources for potential conflicts of interest

A. Defining the client

B. Defining the adversity that triggers conflict rules

C. Adverse client conflict—direct adversity or adverse representation

D. Joint representation—dual or concurrent representation

E. Adversity to former clients

F. Personal conflicts of interest

II. Prohibited transactions

A. Applicable rules

B. Availability of waiver

III. Conflict resolution

A. Withdrawal from representation

B. Client consent

C. Conflict waivers

D. Engagement letters

E. Law firm conflicts checks

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • What are some best practices for law firm conflict avoidance procedures?
  • Under what circumstances will a conflict prevent representation?
  • How can engagement letters effectively limit potential conflicts?
  • What critical language should be included in a conflicts waiver document?
  • What are the applicable rules governing prohibited transactions?
  • Under what circumstances are conflict waivers non-permissible?