Ethical Considerations in Representing Multiple Parties in Litigation

Article by William E. Wright, Jr.

Attorneys are often asked to represent more than one party in connection with litigation. This Article evaluates the ethical considerations essential to multiple-party representation and addresses practical considerations to avoid ethical violations.


About the Author

William E. Wright, Jr. Partner, Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles, L.L.P., New Orleans, Louisiana. J.D. Tulane University School of Law. Mr. Wright concentrates his practice in commercial litigation, with a heavy emphasis on professional liability, including attorneys, accountants, agents, and directors and officers. He is actively involved in bar activities involving professional liability issues, including service as Chair of the ABA/ TIPS Committee on Professionals', Officers', and Directors' Liability.

Mr. Wright has served as a speaker on several national programs on professional liability issues, including: Buying Peace: Conducting and Concluding a Mediation (CNA PRO Accountants Defense Network); Attorneys as Defendants (ABA Annual Meeting); The Case Within the Case: Substantive Issues and Practical Perspectives (DRI Professional Liability Program); Effective Management of Conflicts of Interest (Annual Meeting, Forum on the Construction Industry); Accountant Liability in the New Millennium (ABA/TIPS Program); and Accountant Liability in the Context of Claims by Sureties (ABA Annual Meeting). Mr. Wright is the author of an article on “Attorneys as Defendants” in the September 2002 edition of The Practical Lawyer. He also wrote the professional liability chapter in West's treatise on Insurance Coverage Litigation.

Citation

79 Tul. L. Rev. 1523 (2005)