How can I identify conflicts of interest?

How can I identify conflicts of interest?

This is how you avoid conflicts of interest

Recognizing and avoiding conflicts of interest is one of the central duties of the legal profession. timeSensor LEGAL supports you with a safety net with a double bottom, thanks to our two-stage conflict of interest check :

1. Pre-examination

The purpose of the preliminary check is to identify quickly and easily whether a new mandate can be accepted. The preliminary check can be carried out, for example, in direct telephone contact with the potential client, or as a standardized process before a client dossier is created.
First open the list of clients under Addresses. You call up the preliminary check via the "Tools" menu in the address list and select "Search for conflicts of interest". Alternatively, you can open the window by holding down the Alt/Option key and clicking on the "plus" icon to add a dossier. The dialog allows you to screen both a potential client and a potential counterparty.
The search algorithm searches for all types of conflicts, including those that result from indirect address relationships.

The following will be checked for the potential client:

  1. is he already entered in the database as a counterparty or as an employee?
  2. is he connected through a relevant relationship to a contact who is recorded as a counterparty? Hierarchical relationships of any depth are taken into account here.
  3. is he associated in a mandate as counterparty?
  4. does he have a relevant relationship with a contact who is associated with a mandate as a counterparty? Hierarchical relationships of any depth are taken into account here.
  5. is it recorded as a counterparty in any connected databases?

The following is checked for the potential counterparty:

  1. is she already entered in the database as a client or as an employee?
  2. does she have a relevant relationship with a contact who is recorded as a client? Hierarchical relationships of any depth are taken into account here.
  3. is there a mandate for them in the database?
  4. does she have a relevant relationship with a contact for whom a mandate exists?
  5. is it recorded as a client in any connected databases?
You can use the "Tolerance" slider to influence the search tolerance so that incorrectly entered names do not become a pitfall. A search tolerance of zero searches exactly for the entered string. The further you move the slider to the right, the more blurred the search becomes. For this purpose, the "Soundex" and "Levenshtein distance" algorithms are combined in order to detect similar-sounding names in the database.

Note: when searching for connected addresses, the relationships defined in timeSensor LEGAL are used. However, only relevant relationships are considered. If the menu "Participation in the conflict" is set to "Not involved" in a relationship, the relationship will not be taken into account.

2. Review

If the preliminary examination is not carried out or not carried out correctly, there is a subsequent examination in the second stage. This constantly looks for conflicts in the background and reports them by sending a ticket to the mandate manager involved.
The conflicts found can be viewed in the Conflicts of Interest window. An existing conflict is resolved either by removing the mandate again or by a partner approving the conflict with a small justification. As a result, the conflict is considered known, but accepted as justified.


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