Competing Interests
Competing interests refer to situations where individuals or entities have conflicting interests or obligations that may impact their decision-making or actions. In the legal context, it often pertains to situations where a person's personal interests may conflict with their professional duties or responsibilities, potentially leading to ethical or legal challenges.
3 Key excerpts on "Competing Interests"
eBook - ePub- Sir Fred Phillips(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge-Cavendish(Publisher)
...Indeed, globalisation and the interrelated technological nature of everyday life today make it impossible for a lawyer to be sure that unwittingly he may not find himself guilty of a conflict in his dealing with a client or clients. An attempt will, therefore, be made in the course of this chapter to give some examples of the type of problem that the lawyer is likely to encounter. The subject is a vexed one, as will be appreciated from the words of Charles Wolfram – an American ethicist of much repute: ‘Conflict of interest problems are probably the most pervasively felt of all the problems of professional responsibility that might haunt lawyers.’ 2 The same writer quite rightly remarks that generally speaking lawyers have not been good at recognising conflict situations, to which should be added the fact that even when they come face to face with glaring ethical problems they tend not to want to face those problems. II THE NATURE OF THE INTEREST Wolfram is not enamoured of the term ‘conflict of interest’, preferring instead alternatives like ‘additional interests’ or ‘compound interests’ or ‘differing interests’. Boon and Levin regard interests as ‘benefits or positions which a person may wish to defend or promote, including those relating to personal or business relationships, financial or property interests or interests in maintaining certain public offices’. 3 It is stated that the driving force behind the rules governing conflict of interest is clients’ autonomy – the client in an adversary system reposing trust and confidence in his lawyer whom he expects to do for him or her what that client cannot personally do for himself or herself. The lawyer is expected in a spirit of loyalty to advance the client’s interest and to serve him or her as a fiduciary. SCOPE OF THIS REVIEW Because of the expansive nature of this aspect of our study we must perforce be selective about the situations discussed...
eBook - ePubEthics of the Use of Human Subjects in Research
(Practical Guide)
- Adil Shamoo, Felix A. Khin-Maung-Gyi(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Garland Science(Publisher)
...Chapter 6 Conflict of Interest Conflict of interest arises when one’s private interest is in conflict with the public duty to render an impartial opinion. It is in the nature of human beings to be influenced in this situation. The import of conflict of interest could vary from the benign to the criminal. Therefore, in order to maintain confidence in our institutions, we must design decisional structures that avoid conflict of interest. The use of human subjects in research is an important case in point in which private interests may come into conflict with public interest. Investigators and sponsors can derive a great deal of personal benefit from carrying out research with human subjects. The avoidance of conflict of interest is therefore ultimately in the best interest of society, the investigator, and the sponsor. Learning Objectives 1. Definition of conflict of interest 2. Prevalence of conflict of interest 3. How are IRBs influenced by conflict of interest? 4. Methods of avoiding conflict of interest The first-century sage, Hillel, said: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I?” In this statement, Hillel encapsulates the dichotomy of human nature and the struggle between public good and private interests. This dichotomy is part of our nature. These two conflicting interests have been and will remain with human beings as part of our daily lives. Black’s Law Dictionary (Garner, 1999), defines conflict of interest as “A real or seeming incompatibility between one’s private interests and one’s public or fiduciary duties.” With these simple words, conflict of interest is defined as a conflict between private good and public good regardless of the circumstances. It appears in every profession of our society: politics, journalism, science, research, government, and financial institutions. The influence of conflict of interest in all of these professions ranges from the trivial to the criminal act...
eBook - ePubMediation Ethics
Cases and Commentaries
- Ellen Waldman(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Jossey-Bass(Publisher)
...Chapter Eleven Conflicts of Interest As we've discussed, mediator impartiality is crucial to ethical practice. Disputants must be able to trust that mediators approach their cases with no preconceived idea of how the settlement negotiations should go. They must be confident that the mediator isn't rooting for one side or hopeful that a particular outcome will prevail. Not only must mediators actually conduct their mediations with no bias in favor of (or against) one set of disputants, the mediation setting must appear clear of any taint of bias. That is, mediators must avoid playing favorites or even mediating in a context in which the temptation to play favorites appears strong. Proscriptions against conflicts of interest are designed to avoid inappropriate alliances between mediator and disputant, as well as the appearance of inappropriate alliances. Alliances can be created in many ways. They can be based on preexisting personal, professional, or financial relationships with the parties or others close to the parties. Thus, if a mediator's tennis partner of the past ten years asks her to mediate a dispute she has with her employer, the mediator should think about whether her athletic bond with the partner precludes her from handling the case. Similar considerations exist if a business associate or former client solicits mediation services. These personal and business relationships may compromise a mediator's ability to mediate impartially. At the least, these relationships create a perception problem: they make it seem as if the mediator will favor the people she knows, even if no such favoritism occurs. A perceived affinity for one side can also result from involvement with the subject matter of a dispute. For example, consider the plight of the mediator who is a vegetarian and passionate animal rights advocate who is asked to mediate a dispute involving the business practices of the butcher down the street...
