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Conflicts of interest: check before you accept a matter

The conflict check when a client comes in, step by step: the rules of both bars, the scope of the firm, what the register holds, how names are compared and the record to keep.

Updated on 7 October 2026

Conflict of interest check
On this page
  1. In short
  2. What the AVOCATS.BE Code says
  3. What the OVB Codex says
  4. The firm counts as one
  5. What the register holds
  6. Comparing names without missing one
  7. Keeping a record and protecting the data
  8. Sources

In short

  • A procedure is required. AVOCATS.BE requires internal procedures, adapted to the size of the firm, to detect a conflict with an existing or a former client when a new client comes in (art. 5.41). The OVB requires conflicts to be assessed and avoided at all times (art. 8).
  • The firm counts as one. Lawyers who practise together are bound as one firm (AVOCATS.BE art. 5.48; OVB arts. 171.12 and 171.13).
  • A current client does not become an opponent. The OVB bars acting for a client's opponent, even in another matter, while acting for that client (art. 9).
  • A former client stays protected. Their secrecy and information must not be put at risk (AVOCATS.BE arts. 5.40 and 5.44; OVB art. 7).
  • A mere consultation counts. Even without a file or a fee, it bars acting later for the other side in the same dispute (OVB advice 708).
  • The check is repeated. When a party joins, when a matter closes, when the AML step brings directors or beneficial owners to light.

The conflict of interest check compares the names of a new matter with your register, in your browser, and shows for each match the rule its roles raise.

What the AVOCATS.BE Code says

The chapter on conflicts of interest of the Code of conduct (arts. 5.40 to 5.49) applies to the French- and German-speaking bars. Art. 5.40 sets the principle: in all circumstances, the lawyer cannot act where, because of links with another client or a former client, secrecy would be breached or seriously at risk, the lawyer would have to use that client's information, their independence or loyalty may reasonably be affected, or the law forbids it.

Art. 5.41 is the direct basis of a check: internal procedures adapted to the size of the firm, to identify at the start of the relationship any conflict with an existing or a former client, and an assessment of the risk at all times.

The following articles set out the cases:

  • several clients (art. 5.42): no acting where there is a conflict or a serious risk of one, except outside proceedings and with the informed consent of each;
  • the interests of the lawyer or of relatives, and an earlier role as judge, arbitrator, court mandatary or mediator in the matter (art. 5.43);
  • a former client (art. 5.44): never in the same matter brought before a court against them; in the same or a related matter, with the informed consent of the clients concerned;
  • the exceptions (art. 5.45): counsel of a public service, or of a legal person that systematically uses several lawyers;
  • stop acting where the conflict cannot otherwise be resolved (art. 5.46), and the bâtonnier's decision on a derogation (art. 5.47).

What the OVB Codex says

For the Flemish bars, the first part of the Codex Deontologie voor Advocaten was revised on 27 May 2026 (in force on 2 June 2026). Art. 5 bars acting for several clients in conflict, in conflict with oneself, or after an impartial role in the matter. Art. 6 allows several clients only where their interests are common or compatible, each is informed in writing and confirms agreement in writing, secrecy is not at risk and the lawyer can act independently for each. Art. 8 requires conflicts to be assessed at all times and the lawyer to withdraw when one arises. Art. 9 bars acting at the same time for a client in one matter and for that client's opponent in another, except for clients who regularly use several lawyers, where secrecy and independence are safe.

A lawyer who moves firms stays bound by secrecy towards new colleagues and may not intervene in files handled or known at the former firm (art. 17bis, para. 2).

The firm counts as one

A check limited to your own files is not enough. Lawyers who practise in common, or whose public communication suggests it, are bound as one firm (AVOCATS.BE art. 5.48), and so are lawyers who share an organisation or premises, unless no practice in common can be inferred and their files are sealed. At the OVB, nobody within an association or a cost-sharing group may represent interests that conflict with those of another member: if one cannot act, none can (arts. 171.12 and 171.13). In a multidisciplinary group, a lawyer checks conflicts with full access to the client list of every member (art. 178bis.7). The register should therefore bring every list together; the tool shows the number of records searched under each result.

What the register holds

One record per party and per matter: the name as written in the file, the role, the matter's reference and status, the dates and, for an organisation, the enterprise number. Useful roles go beyond clients and adverse parties:

  • related persons and companies: directors, beneficial owners, parent and subsidiary companies, spouses, guarantors;
  • people who consulted the firm without becoming clients;
  • the interests and outside mandates of the firm's members: close relatives, director mandates, property manager, data protection officer, court mandates;
  • the files of a lawyer's former firm when that lawyer joins you, as restricted records: a match shows only the lawyer to consult.

Labels stay neutral: a file number, never facts covered by professional secrecy or offence details. The Law of 30 July 2018 allows lawyers to process criminal data for their clients' defence, provided they keep a list of the persons who have access to it (art. 10).

Comparing names without missing one

One name is written in several ways in Belgian files: Statbel counts "Van den Bossche", "Vandenbossche", "Vanden Bossche" and "Van Den Bossche", or "D'Hondt", "Dhondt" and "De Hondt". Companies moved from "SPRL" to "SRL" and from "BVBA" to "BV" with the automatic conversion of 1 January 2024. An exact search misses a lot.

The tool normalises each name (capitals, accents, umlauts, ß, apostrophes, particles, titles, legal forms), then compares the compact keys, the sound ("De Smedt" and "Desmet"), transliteration variants ("Mohamed" and "Muhammad") and close spellings, with thresholds measured on real pairs. A valid enterprise number prevails: the tool checks its check digits and refuses establishment-unit numbers, which start with 2 to 9. Better one match too many than one too few: each match carries a strength (certain, likely, to verify) and its reasons, and the lawyer decides.

Keeping a record and protecting the data

A useful check leaves a dated record: who checked, why, the names searched, the matches, the lawyer's assessment and the decision (accept, accept with consent, decline, stop acting, refer to the bâtonnier). After a suspicious transaction report, the reason stays neutral: the lawyer stops acting without saying why (AVOCATS.BE art. 4.87).

The register holds data of clients and third parties covered by professional secrecy (art. 352 of the new Penal Code, formerly art. 458). With the tool, names never leave your browser; the register and the check log can be kept in an encrypted vault on your device, and each log entry carries a fingerprint linked to the previous one. Start your next matter with the conflict of interest check, then continue with the new client flow.

Sources

A drafting aid based on the sources cited. To be reviewed and adapted by the lawyer; it is neither advice nor a guarantee of compliance.