Conflict of Interest

Is it classed as Conflict of Interest if my private Attorney composes / writes / prints / submits together with the complainant an Affidavit of Desistance for the complainant in my case ?

Also should I be the one who must pay the costs of this Affidavit ?

Any help/advice appreciated

It may be classified as conflict of interest if he has personal knowledge coming from his previous representations for you in court that he can use for his current client against you.

Bawal yan under the Code of Professional Conduct for lawyers.

This was the first time he represented me in a case and he did this as the case was ongoing

What should I do (if anything can be done) ?

thanks for reply

Is he currently representing you and the other party in the case at hand?

If yes, then you have a right to have the other party change its counsel using the conflict of interest as grounds. You can raise this matter with your lawyer and clarify it with him as to how is he representing the other party concerned. You may also seek the advice of another lawyer to get a better perspective as to what your options are, but ideally your private lawyer should be barred from becoming your opponent's counsel especially if he has specific knowledge that can be used against you.

There is a possible ground for suspension of the lawyer if he keeps representing you both without your prior approval of the situation on hand, using the Code of Professional Conduct provisions as basis.

He only represented me not both parties. He did this Affidavit without my knowledge and when I questioned about it, the complainant stated my Attorney had volunteered to do it.

I questioned the ethics behind the Attorney's decision to do this and he said to me "You have no idea what is happening, you have no idea about the law, just sign it"

When I started to read it (I was in handcuffs and bail had not been paid at this time) the Attorney said to me "Just sign it, the fiscal is waiting or you can go to jail"

All in all, I ended up spending 1 night in jail due to the Attorney not delivering paperwork quick enough for bail and now the case is finished he has kept my bail money as it was his name on the receipt and he has said it is his money as the receipts are in his name

The office staff said because he paid the bail ( I gave him the money to pay) he can collect it with the case dismissal paperwork and the receipt which he did

Now he is demanding his bill be paid (inclusive of the Affidavit)