Conflict checking that actually catches conflicts
Writford screens every new matter against your whole firm's history, catches the typos, accents and sound-alike names a manual search misses, and leaves an SRA-ready record of every decision. AI confirms the match; a solicitor always decides.
How does a conflict of interest check work in a law firm?
A conflict check screens a prospective client and the other side against everyone the firm has previously acted for or against. Writford's conflict check software runs this on every new matter across the whole firm, grades the result definite, potential or none, and keeps a record of each decision and the evidence behind it.
- Does it check the whole firm or just my own files?
- The whole firm. Both parties are screened against every client, former client and opponent the firm has recorded, across all matters and every fee earner, because a conflict you personally never saw is still a conflict.
- Does it catch name variations?
- Yes. Ltd against Limited, ampersands, abbreviations, typos, initials and accented spellings are all matched, along with sound-alike names, company numbers and email addresses. Those are the variants a plain name search misses.
- Can the AI clear a conflict?
- No, and that is deliberate. The AI reviews borderline name matches and can confirm that two similar names are the same legal entity, strengthening a finding. It can never clear one. The judgement stays with a qualified solicitor.
- Is there a record when we act despite a conflict?
- Yes. Acting for clients whose interests conflict is recorded as an exception: which exception you relied on, where each client's written consent is held, the safeguards protecting their confidential information, and the reviewer's reasoning that it is reasonable to act, with who recorded it and when. A conflict with the firm's own interests is recorded as one the firm cannot act on. Writford records what you tell it; the consent letters themselves stay on your file.
- When does the check run?
- On matter creation, before work starts, rather than as a step somebody remembers to do afterwards.
Every new matter checked against the whole firm
The moment a matter is created, Writford screens the client and the opposing party against every party the firm has ever acted for or against. Current clients, former clients and opponents, across every matter and every fee-earner, not only your own files. Screening you could never reliably do from memory happens before the work begins.
- Automatic screening the instant a matter is created
- Covers current clients, former clients and opposing parties
- Checks across all matters and every fee-earner in the firm
- Each finding names who in the firm holds the conflicting record
- Results graded Definite, Potential or None so you can triage
- A persistent banner warns on every screen until the conflict is resolved
Catches the variants a plain name search misses
A deterministic matching engine looks past the surface of a name. It reconciles legal-suffix variants, punctuation and abbreviations, forgives typos, and reads sound-alike and accented names as the same party. It also matches on company number and email, so a conflict is not missed just because a name was typed differently.
- Legal-suffix variants, so Ltd and Limited are treated as one
- Ampersands, abbreviations and initials, so J Smith reaches John Smith
- Typo-tolerant fuzzy matching for mistyped names
- Phonetic matching for sound-alikes such as Catherine and Katherine
- Accent-aware matching, so a pasted Zénith meets Zenith
- Company-number and email matches alongside the name checks
AI confirms the match, a solicitor makes the call
Our AI adjudicates the borderline name matches, confirming whether two similar names are really the same legal entity and strengthening the finding when they are. It never erases a flagged conflict. A qualified solicitor always reviews and decides, and every decision is recorded. Your firm's material is never used to train AI models.
- AI confirms genuine matches and upgrades the finding
- AI can strengthen a conflict but never clears one on its own
- A qualified solicitor reviews every flag and makes the decision
- Mark a false match as not a conflict, or record an own-interest conflict the firm cannot act on
- Acting under an exception records the exception, the consent reference, the safeguards and the reasoning
- Every decision records who made it and when, and is never used for training
Further reading
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