Conflict of interest. Collection agency attorney garnishing bank account. While the Opinions express the ISBA interpretation of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct and other relevant materials in response to a specific hypothesized fact situation, they do not have the weight of law and should not be relied upon as a substitute for individual legal advice. Collection agency attorney garnishing bank account.
Attorney representing a collection agency actually represents the creditor.
The customer's debtor has the bank account in a bank which is also a customer of the collection agency and is represented in other collection matters by the same attorney. The facts submitted do not indicate any conflict in the representation. Both customers of the collection agency are clients of the agency's attorney and both are due the attorney's professional responsibilities, loyalty and confidence. Under the facts given, we do not know if the bank in this case has any interest that will be adversely affected by the garnishment action. If the bank is a mere stakeholder of depositor's funds and has no set-off, counterclaim or defense to the garnishment, there would appear to be no conflicts.