The lawyer should also make it clear to the wife, preferably in writing, that he cannot represent her in the divorce since he cannot represent opposing sides in litigation. A divorce, even when uncontested, is litigation. It involves the filing of a law suit and a judgment being entered against both parties. Generally, the lawyer cannot represent a person and litigate against that person in the same law suit. The lawyer's fiduciary duty of loyalty to the client and Illinois Rule of Professional Conduct 1.7, Conflict of Interest, forbid representing opposing sides in the same suit.
Case law is to the same effect.
Consent by the wife cannot make such joint representation of opposing sides in the same case proper. In addition, a lawyer for one spouse in a divorce may not give legal advice to an unrepresented spouse in the case on the effect or implications of the divorce or documents generated by it, nor may the lawyer imply to the unrepresented spouse that the lawyer is disinterested in the matter. If the wife declines to obtain counsel to represent her in the divorce, it is prudent for the husband's lawyer to suggest in writing to the wife that she at lease retain a lawyer to review any settlement or other documents that she will be asked to sign or that will be filed with the court. The lawyer should also take care that any settlement agreement with an unrepresented spouse is not so one sided that it can later be set aside as unconscionable. Husband's lawyer in divorce case also representing husband and wife in contemporaneous bankruptcy filing A lawyer cannot properly represent the husband in a divorce from the wife and at the same time represent both the husband and the wife in filing for bankruptcy.