There is a conflict of interest if Villamanta works with two people or organisations on opposite sides of an issue.
One example is if Villamanta was to represent someone with disability and a service provider they are making a complaint about. This is not something we do.
There are lots of examples of what a conflict of interest might look like. But there is usually a big risk that by helping one side meet their goals, the goals of the other side are harmed.
Villamanta avoids conflicts of interest by:
- Not giving legal advice or help to people on opposite sides of an argument
- Not giving legal advice, help or Community Legal Education (CLE) to someone without disability if we think they might use it in a way that could be bad for someone with disability
- Not giving legal advice to people or organisations that provide services for people with disability if there is any chance people who use that service might want legal advice or help about the same issue
- Doing everything we can to talk to the person with disability even when someone who contacts us says they are speaking on the person’s behalf.
If two or more people with disability have an issue with each other, we will give legal advice or help to the person who contacts us first.
If you contact us and we think there would be a conflict of interest for us to work for you, we will tell you. If we cannot help you, we will try to help you find you someone who can.
