Running a conflict check

A conflict check screens the people and companies you are about to take on as clients against everyone and everything already in your firm's records. Esqase builds this check into the new-matter wizard so you can clear your clients for conflicts of interest at the moment you open a matter, before any work begins.

What a conflict-of-interest check is

A conflict of interest happens when representing a new client could clash with your duties to an existing or former client (for example, you already represent the person on the other side of the case, or a new client is closely tied to an opposing party). Most bar rules require firms to screen for these conflicts before accepting a matter, and to document that they did.

Esqase's conflict check is a screening tool that helps you spot those situations. When you run it, Esqase searches across your firm's existing records for the names you are about to bring on, and surfaces any place those names already appear. You then review the results and use your professional judgment to decide whether a true conflict exists.

Before you begin

• You run the conflict check from inside the new-matter wizard, on the first step (Customers). To get there, start creating a matter. See Creating a matter.
• You need at least one customer (client) selected on the Customers step. The check screens the clients you have chosen, so the button stays disabled until you select one.
• Any signed-in firm member can run a conflict check. There is no separate permission for it. (Your ability to create the matter afterward still depends on your role's access to matters.)
• For the sharpest results, the people and companies you are screening should already exist as contacts. Screening an existing contact lets Esqase check structured relationships (such as company-and-employee links), not just name matches. See Working with contacts.

Where the conflict check lives

The conflict check appears as a panel at the bottom of the Customers step of the new-matter wizard. This is the same step where you choose the matter's client (or clients) and mark which one is the primary client and which receives the bill.

You do not have to leave the wizard or open a separate page. As you add and remove customers above, the panel always screens the current set of selected clients.

Run a conflict check

Run the check once you have chosen the clients for the new matter.

1. Start creating a matter so that the new-matter wizard opens on the Customers step.
2. In each customer row, use the Customer picker to Search or select customer. Choose an existing contact, or use New customer in the picker to create one on the spot.
3. Optionally set Primary to Yes for the main client, and set Bill recipient to Yes for the client who should receive invoices. To screen more than one client at once, click Add customer and select another contact.
4. Scroll to the Conflict check panel below the customer rows. It reads: "Screen the selected client(s) for potential conflicts of interest before you proceed."
5. Click Run conflict check. The button is disabled until you have selected at least one client. If no client is selected, you will see the note "Select at least one client to run a check."
6. While the check runs, the button shows Checking... and a message appears below the panel: "Checking records for potential conflicts...". Wait for it to finish.

What Esqase screens

When you run the check, Esqase looks for your selected clients in several ways at once:

• Existing matters. Whether a selected client is already a client on another matter, or listed as a related contact on another matter.
• Contacts. Company-and-employee links: if you are screening a company, its known employees; if you are screening a person, the companies they are affiliated with.
• Name mentions everywhere else. Whether a client's name shows up in the text of your existing records, including matters, contacts, leads, invoices, tasks, activities, notes, communications, events, and documents.

The check is most precise when you screen an existing contact, because Esqase can use the contact's name parts (first name, last name, company name) and its stored relationships. A name you typed for a brand-new client that does not yet exist as a saved contact is screened against existing records by name only.

Read the results

After the check finishes, the panel shows what it found. There are three possible outcomes.

No conflicts found

If nothing matched, you will see a No conflicts found message confirming that the selected client (or clients) "did not appear on other matters, contacts, or records." You can proceed with the matter.

Potential matches found

If Esqase found anything, the panel shows a summary line such as "3 potential matches found." If any of those matches are high priority, a red high priority badge appears next to the count (for example, "2 high priority").

Below the summary, results are grouped by where they were found, with a count for each group:

• Matters
• Contacts
• Leads
• Invoices
• Tasks
• Activities
• Notes
• Communications
• Events
• Documents

Each result is a single row you can click to open that record (the matter, contact, invoice, and so on) in a new view, so you can investigate it. Every row shows:

• The record's name and, where relevant, a short subtitle (for example, a matter's reference number or a contact's job title).
• A short explanation of why it surfaced. For example, "'Jane Doe' is the primary client on this matter," "'Jane Doe' is a related contact on this matter," or "'Jane Doe' appears in this note."
• A colored tag on the right describing the kind of match. The tag's color signals how strongly to treat it:
  • Existing client and Related party are high-priority (red). These mean the person is already a client on, or a related party to, another matter, which is the most likely place a real conflict hides.
  • Employee and Affiliation are medium (these come from company-and-employee links).
  • Mention is low (the name simply appears somewhere in your records, which is worth a look but is often harmless).

When you screen more than one client at once, each result row also shows a "Matched:" line naming which of your selected clients the record matched, so you can tell who triggered it.

A partial result

If some of your records could not be searched at the moment (for example, a temporary hiccup), the panel adds a note that "some records could not be checked, results may be incomplete." Treat a clean result in that case with caution and run the check again in a moment for a complete picture.

Understand that the check is advisory

The conflict check is built to inform your decision, not to make it for you. Two things follow from that:

• It is not saved. Esqase does not store the results of a conflict check as part of the matter. The panel is a live, in-the-moment screen. If you need a record that you ran a conflict check, capture it yourself (for example, save a note on the matter once it is created, or keep your own screenshot per your firm's policy). See Notes.
• It never blocks you. Finding potential matches, even high-priority ones, does not stop you from finishing the wizard and creating the matter. Esqase will let you proceed. The responsibility to clear or decline the matter stays with you and your firm.

How to act on potential conflicts

When the check surfaces matches, work through them before you create the matter.

1. Start with the high-priority tags. Open every result tagged Existing client or Related party first. These point at other matters where your client (or a related party) already appears, which is where genuine conflicts most often live.
2. Open each match to investigate. Click a result row to view the underlying record. Confirm whether it is genuinely the same person or company (common names produce false matches) and whether the prior or current representation actually conflicts with the new matter.
3. Check the medium and low matches too. Employee and Affiliation tags can reveal that a client is tied to an opposing company. Mention tags are usually harmless but occasionally surface a connection you would have missed.
4. Decide and document. If you clear the conflict, proceed with the matter. Because nothing is saved automatically, record your conflict-screening decision according to your firm's policy (for example, add a note to the matter after you create it).
5. If a real conflict exists, do not proceed. Close the wizard rather than creating the matter, or take the steps your firm requires (such as obtaining a written waiver) before continuing.

Common questions

Does running the conflict check change anything in my records? No. It only reads and reports. Nothing is written, saved, or shared.

Can I run the check on someone who is not a saved contact yet? Yes. If you create a customer inline in the wizard, or type a name, Esqase screens that name against existing records. The check is sharper, though, for clients that already exist as contacts, because it can also follow company-and-employee links.

Why did a clearly unrelated person show up? Low-priority Mention results match on name text, so people who share a name can appear. Open the record to confirm whether it is actually the same party.

The check said "No conflicts found" but also mentioned results may be incomplete. Is it safe? Not necessarily. That message means some records could not be searched. Run the check again in a moment to get a complete result before you rely on it.

Can I see a past conflict check I ran? No. Results are not stored. If you need a record, capture it yourself (for example, in a note on the matter) per your firm's policy.

Related

• Creating a matter
• Working with contacts
• Tagging contacts
• Managing leads
• Notes
• Activity timelines and audit logs