Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, Last year, I negotiated a complex and lengthy contract for a client. The client has now been sued for breach of the contract. The case will turn on a pivotal issue of contract interpretation and the intent of the parties. The client will likely want me to be a witness as I was part of all the dealings with the other side. Can our firm defend the suit? What if my recollection of the negotiations differs substantially from our client’s on a critical issue? 

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, My no-good brother-in-law has been fired, again. I know this because after downing his customary six-pack of Old Milwaukee at a family barbecue, he gave me all the excruciating details, including his view that he was fired because of his age and some younger workers brought in, although he did concede that he might not have worked very hard.

I listened as politely as I could to this tale of woe. When at the end of it all, he asked what he should do about a discrimination claim, I told him somewhat absent-mindedly that his recourse would be to file a discrimination charge against his employer with the EEOC. I never discussed representing him. Now, months later, I see a conflicts check request at our firm showing his former employer as an existing client of the firm, and my brother-in-law as the adverse party. The nature of the matter? Defend an age discrimination charge, of course. I would not be involved in the matter, but does my firm have a conflict here?