Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Conflicting interest

The question is impossible to answer fully without knowing (1) your relationship to the owner and the operator (i.e., are you involved in a lawsuit with them, or either of them?) and (2) whether there is really a conflict of interest between the owner and the operator, and if so, whether the owner and operator have knowledgably waived the conflict and consented to the joint representation.

In general, conflicts of interest between attorneys and multiple clients are of importance only to the parties and attorneys themselves. Occasionally, the conflict affects the rights of an adversarial party. Are you an adversarial party? If you are just a bystander with no direct stake in the conflict, if one exists, you almost certainly have no right to complain to anyone.

I suppose if there are EPA issues, any member of the public might have standing to intervene as a "private attorney general," but this is quite a stretch, and I'd think that until a court granted you standing to become a party to an action, the potential conflict is none of your business.

Re: Conflicting interest

The answer to your question depends in part on (a) whether there is a real conflict between owner and operator and (b) your interest in the matter. We understand that you may not have full information on the relationship between the owner and the operator, but we cannot respond to your inquiry without information on your involvement and interest