Policy of the management of the conflicts of interest
POLICY OF THE MANAGEMENT OF THE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IN THE LAW FIRM
ADWOKACI I RADCOWIE PRAWNI ŻYGLICKA I WSPÓLNICY SPÓŁKA PARTNERSKA
A. Introduction – the essence of the problem, the basic content-related and organizational principles
1. This Policy of the Management of the Conflicts of Interest (hereinafter referred to as the “Policy”) shows the values and methods, including prohibitions, which the law firm Adwokaci i Radcowie Prawni Żyglicka i Wspólnicy spółka partnerska (hereinafter referred to as the “Law Firm”) recognizes and applies in order to avoid, properly locate and manage conflicts of interest.
2. Solutions provided in this Policy serve especially the purpose of resolving conflicts of interest by ensuring an equal treatment of the Clients and by ensuring that the Law Firm, its lawyers and other persons linked to the Law Firm will not receive benefits or avoid losses at the expense of the Clients of the Law Firm.
3. The rules of this Policy do not apply to the reconciliation of interests in a transparent process of negotiating the terms of cooperation between the Law Firm and its Clients and between the Law Firm and the lawyers, e.g. relating to the conditions of the provision of legal services nor pay conditions, where the diversity of the goals is a premise for the conducted negotiations and where the result of the negotiations is a compromise respecting the interests of all parties concerned.
4. The Law Firm applies information barriers, the purpose of which is to restrict the flow of confidential information, information relating to the Clients of the Law Firm and to the transactions concluded by them. Teams operating within the Law Firm, effectively separated by a policy, the aim of which is not to give information about the Clients to lawyers who do not provide services to those Clients (hereinafter referred to as “Information barriers”), may also provide services, which without the application of information barriers, could result in a conflict of interest.
5. The following persons are responsible for a proper management of conflicts of interest as part of the corporate culture:
a. Managing Partners of the Law Firm – natural persons responsible for the management of the Law Firm who introduce internal rules, and
b. all lawyers (hereinafter referred to as the “Lawyers”) – Managing Partners of the Law Firm, legal advisers, attorneys, legal interns, employees and cooperating persons.
6. The Managing Partners of the Law Firm are particularly responsible for the identification of conflicts. They should show their subordinates how to properly respond to a situation of a possible or actual conflict of interest.
7. Resolution of a particular conflict situation, including the type and scope of the applied measures, is determined based on a decision of the Managing Partner of the Law Firm engaged in a given situation by the lawyers.
8. Managing Partners of the Law Firm are persons who are responsible for the management of conflicts of interest in the Law Firm, and in particular for a possible introduction of internal rules, IT solutions, recommendations and consultations, as well as for the inspections and training.
9. The Lawyers are obliged to anticipate and avoid situations in which their private interests could conflict with the interests of the Clients of the Law Firm or with the interests of the Law Firm itself.
10. The scope of activities or other documents specifying the tasks and responsibilities of the Lawyers should be defined in such a way so as to exclude from the responsibilities of the Lawyer such tasks that remain in a relation causing a conflict of interest.
11. The Lawyers should disclose an actual or a possible occurrence of a conflict of interest and should also refrain from speaking and discussing matters in respect of which a conflict of interest has occurred or may occur between them and the Client of the Law Firm or the Law Firm itself.
12. The Law Firm may adopt additional separate policies or rules to regulate specific issues related to the management of conflicts of interest.
B. Goals and normative sources of the Policy and general provisions
1. The Law Firm may find itself in a situation of a conflict of interest in relation to its Clients in connection with the services provided by the Law Firm itself or by its Lawyers.
2. This policy has been prepared on the basis of:
a. Act on Legal Advisers of 6 July 1982 (Dz. U. /Journal of Laws/ of 2016, item 233)
b. Law on the Bar of 26 May 1982 (Dz. U. /Journal of Laws/ of 2015 item 615, as amended)
c. Code of Ethics of Legal Advisers adopted by the Resolution No. 3/2014 of the Extraordinary National Convention of Legal Advisers of 22 November 2014 on the Code of Ethics of Legal Advisers.
d. Set of Rules on the Ethics and Dignity of the Profession of Legal Adviser of 10 October 1998 (consolidated text of 14 December 2011).
3. Matters not regulated by this Policy will be covered by relevant provisions specified in Par. 2 above
4. The provisions of this Policy apply to:
a. Managing Partners and Lawyers of the Law Firm, persons remaining in a relationship of a mandate or another legal relationship of a similar nature, including persons working in or providing services to the Law Firm
b. at the request of the Law Firm – other persons involved in the provision to the Client of the Law Firm of services related to the legal consultancy services offered by the Law Firm – in the name or on behalf of the Law Firm, for example persons providing services to the Law Firm on the basis of outsourcing agreements, hereinafter referred to as “Lawyers” or “Lawyer”.
5. All information about the conflicts of interest submitted by the Law Firm to its Client under this Policy will be sent in writing or via e-mail, in a format that ensures storage of this information by the Law Firm and the Client for the time required by the nature of this information and for the purpose of development or transfer of this information, and that prevents change of this information and allows one to reproduce this information in the version and form in which it was developed or transferred.
6. Information sent to the Client of the Law Firm under this Policy should contain data allowing the Client to take a conscious decision about whether to conclude an agreement or whether to continue to use the services under the concluded agreement.
C. Definition of a conflict of interest
1. A conflict of interest is understood as circumstances known to the Law Firm and the Lawyers of the Law Firm which may lead to a collision of interests of the:
a. Law Firm
b. Lawyers
and the obligation of the Law Firm to act in a reliable way, taking into account the best interests of its Client, as well as circumstances known to the Law Firm which may lead to a collision between the interests of several Clients of the Law Firm
2. A conflict of interest may arise in particular in a situation where:
a. the Law Firm or the Lawyer may in a given situation, which has not been covered by the agreement concluded with the Client, obtain benefits or avoid losses, because of a loss or failure to obtain benefits suffered by the Client or a group of Clients of the Law Firm
b. the Law Firm or the Lawyer have a financial or another reason to favor a particular Client or a group of Clients of the Law Firm over another Client or a group of Clients of the Law Firm.
c. the Law Firm or the Lawyer have a reason to favor their own interests or the interests of a third party over the interests of the Client or a group of Clients of the Law Firm.
d. the Law Firm or the Lawyer have an interest in a particular outcome of a service provided to the Client or a transaction performed on behalf of the Client, which differs from the interests of the Client
e. the Lawyer can obtain benefits or avoid losses at the expense of the interests of the Law Firm, including those relating to reputation,
f. the Law Firm or the Lawyer conduct the same type of activity as the Client
g. the Law Firm or the Lawyer will receive from a person other than the Client a material benefit other than the standard remuneration or commissions, in connection with the service provided to the Client
D. Basic types of conflicts of interest
1. A conflict of interest may arise between:
a. the Law Firm and the Client or Clients of the Law Firm
b. the Lawyer and the Law Firm
2. The Law Firm adheres to the principle that in the case of an actual or possible conflict of interest, the interests of the Law Firm and its Clients have priority over the interests of the Lawyer.
In particular, if a conflict of interest may occur or has occurred between:
a. the Law Firm and its Client – the interests of the Client have priority over the interests of the Law Firm
b. the Client of the Law Firm and the Lawyer – the interests of the Client have priority over the interests of the Lawyer
c. the Lawyer and the Law Firm – the interests of the Law Firm have priority over the interests of the Lawyer
3. A conflict of interests between the Law Firm and its Client may occur in particular in relation to the legal consultancy services provided by the Law Firm. A conflict of interest in this respect may arise in connection with:
a. parallel provision of the same services to several Clients,
b. provision by the Law Firm of services (e.g. advice on the issue of shares or bonds) to the issuers of financial instruments which can simultaneously be a subject of a transaction concluded between the Client – investor.
4. A conflict of interest between the Client of the Law Firm and the Lawyer may occur particularly when using sensitive information relating to the Client of the Law Firm (hereinafter referred to as “Sensitive Information”), by which one understands confidential information or information covered by professional secrecy and other information about the Client or transactions concluded by the Client, its financial or legal situation, of which the Lawyer gained knowledge in connection with the performance of his/her duties in the Law Firm.
5. A conflict of interest between the Lawyer and the Law Firm may occur in particular in the following cases:
a. linking of the interests of the Lawyer or persons close to him/her, in particular through the financial commitment, with the interests of the company which is at the same time a Client of the Law Firm, especially when this particular Lawyer provides services to this company
b. provision of services by the Lawyer of the Law Firm to the Lawyer himself/herself, his/her relatives or friends, which entails the danger of the use of possessed competences and space of activities to the detriment of the Law Firm, as well as the danger of the use of the received business information, including confidential information relating to the Law Firm.
E. Counteracting and management of conflicts of interest between the Law Firm and its Client or Clients.
1. Before entering into an agreement with the Client, the Lawyer supervising a planned service or transaction should analyze the situation, using all available knowledge of conflicts of interest that may occur or actually occur between the Law Firm and the Client of the Law Firm, as well as of conflicts which are linked to the Lawyer’s situation in the Law Firm
2. Should a conflict of interest be identified, the Lawyer decides about further steps in a given matter, including about a possible withdrawal by the Law Firm from the conclusion of a planned agreement or transaction, in connection with which a conflict of interest may occur, and immediately informs about this the Managing Partner of the Law Firm.
3. Before the conclusion with the Client of an agreement on the provision of legal consultancy services by the Law Firm, the Lawyer supervising the agreement should inform the Client about the existing conflicts of interest, indicating the essence of these conflicts of interest, and about possible situations in which a conflict of interest may occur, and should also agree with the Client on the rules of conduct in such situations. In particular the Lawyer should obtain from the Client a written consent to the conclusion of the agreement despite the actual or possible occurrence of a conflict of interest, with the observation of the rules on the confidentiality of information relating to the Client of the Law Firm and professional secrecy. Should a conflict of interest occur after the conclusion of an agreement with the Client, the Lawyer supervising the agreement should inform the Client about the conflict once the Lawyer has become aware of it. In such a situation, the Lawyer supervising the agreement has to obtain a written consent from the Client to the continuation of the provision of services covered by this agreement. One should refrain from the provision of services specified in the agreement to the Client until one has obtained an express written statement confirming the continuation or termination of the agreement.
4. If a conflict of interest between the Law Firm and the Client of the Law Firm arises or may arise in connection with the provision of services by the Law Firm to another Client of the Law Firm, the services should be provided by Lawyers performing their duties independently, e.g. within the framework of two independent work teams.
5. The Lawyers operating in one of the teams must not send the Lawyers operating in the other team any sensitive information related to the Client of the Law Firm to whom they provide services.
6. The Lawyers operating within one of the teams in the provision of services to the Client of the Law Firm must not use the Sensitive information obtained by Lawyers from the other team providing services to another Client of the Law Firm.
7. The Lawyers must not provide the Client of the Law Firm other services, in particular advisory ones, using in the provision process Sensitive information about other Clients of the Law Firm.
8. If the Lawyer is aware of the fact that a conflict of interest between the Lawyer and the Law Firm may occur or occurs, the Lawyer shall immediately inform of this fact the Managing Partner of the Law Firm.
F. Counteracting and management of conflicts of interest between the Lawyer and the Law Firm
1. The Lawyers shall refrain from undertaking any activities which could undermine the credibility and integrity of the Lawyer and the Law Firm itself and which could be perceived as causing a conflict of interest between the Lawyer and the Law Firm.
2. If the Lawyer is aware of the fact that a conflict of interest between the Lawyer and the Law Firm may occur or occurs, the Lawyer shall immediately inform of this fact the Managing Partner of the Law Firm.
3. The Managing Partner of the Law Firm decides on further steps in a given case. The steps may include removal of the Lawyer from the performance of a business task, in respect of which a conflict of interest has occurred or may occur.
4. The Lawyers must not use the name and logo of the Law Firm neither its forms nor blanks for activities not connected with the performance of their official duties.
5. The ICT equipment made available to the Lawyers by the Law Firm must not be used for activities other than those performed for the Law Firm, in particular for gainful activities.
6. The Lawyers or companies controlled by the Lawyers by means of ownership or participation of the Lawyers in the governing bodies or supervisory bodies of such companies must not provide services or supply other products to the Law Firm, unless this is done on a transparent basis, with a duly justified and documented benefit to the Law Firm. This must not take place in a situation in which the Lawyer selects a supplier or supervises this choice, where Lawyer himself/herself or someone close to him/her can be the potential provider.
G. Final provisions
1. The Managing Partner of the Law Firm archives notifications of the occurrence or a possible occurrence of conflicts of interest connected with the activities of the Law Firm or the Lawyers, and with the advice given to the organizational units on the matter the conflict of interest.
2. The Managing Partner of the Law Firm analyzes reported conflicts of interest and gives recommendations on how to proceed in a particular case.