A defense attorney might be working late, preparing for trial, witnesses call, messages are left. No matter what your spouse's occupation, trade or profession, there has to be some spillover at home. I'm married to an attorney. We've been married almost 29 years. Every client who walks in the door knows that in retaining one of us in essence there are two attorneys in both the same office and the same family.
Calls come in the middle of the night, on weekends, especially for a criminal defense attorney.
If your client gets arrested in the middle of the night, your spouse knows it. I don't think the courts will be intrusive. I think this is just the obligation of the attorneys to disclose genuine conflict or potential conflicts to their clients. We're still litigating many of those issues. But my client was not allowed the opportunity of counsel of his choice.