Conflicts of Interest Under California’s New Rules of Professional Conduct

Although there seems to have been no detectable tremor in the force, on November 1, 2018, California's first nearly complete overhaul of its Rules of Professional Responsibility (“Rules”) in nearly 30 years came into effect. In addition to renumbering the rules to conform to the ABA Model Rules, California's new rules enact a number of substantive changes and depart from the Model Rules in material respects, particularly in identifying and (potentially) avoiding conflicts of interest.