Oftentimes personal injury attorneys are presented with conflicts of interest. Let us take the example of an auto accident to illustrate this point. Suppose for example that an attorney is presented with the situation where both the driver and passenger of the same car are involved in a Massachusetts auto accident, and they both seek to have the same attorney represent them. The attorney in this situation may have a conflict.
If it turns out that fault for the accident lies with the driver, and not the driver of the other vehicle, the attorney would have to sue the driver (his client) in order to effectively represent the passenger (his other client). These types of conflicts recur many times when both a passenger and driver involved in a Massachusetts auto accident seek to have the same lawyer represent them both.