Final answer:
Conflicts of interest arise when an attorney or paralegal moves from one client to another with conflicting interests. This can create problems if confidential information from the first client is used against them in the new representation. A Supreme Court case, Glasser v. United States, addressed conflicts of interest in simultaneous representation of co-defendants.
Step-by-step explanation:
Conflicts of interest exist when an attorney or paralegal moves from representing one client to representing another client with conflicting interests. This can happen when the attorney or paralegal switches sides in a legal matter or starts working for a new client who is adverse to a former client.
For example, if an attorney previously represented a defendant in a criminal case, they would have access to confidential information about the defendant. If the attorney then took on a new client who is the prosecutor in a related case, it would create a conflict of interest because the attorney may have to use the confidential information obtained from the previous representation in the prosecutor's favor.
This issue of conflicts of interest is addressed in case law, such as Glasser v. United States (1942), where the Supreme Court held that a defense lawyer's conflict of interest arising from a simultaneous representation of co-defendants violates the Assistance of Counsel Clause of the Sixth Amendment.