Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 01-11 (2001) · Conflict Of Interest—Consultant Serving As City Engineer
Professional obligations conflict, and the board applies no fixed rule for which one wins.
Each resolution is recorded as three edges:
competesWith (the tension),
prevailsOver (the obligation the board allowed to win in this case), and
defeasibleUnder (the situation under which the yielding obligation gives way).
The same tension is then traced across comparable cases, where its resolution shifts with context.
Hover any obligation or state to see its definition; click to open it in OntServe.
How this case resolved it
Featured
Engineer A Structural Conflict Proactive Disclosure to City H Instance
prevails over
Engineer A WXY Prospective City Engineer Self-Interest Advisory Non-Distortion Instance
No State context committed for this edge.
Engineer A WXY Engineering Conflict of Interest Disclosure Evolution Compliance
prevails over
WXY Engineers Incumbent Multi-Contract City Engineer Non-Acceptance Obligation Instance
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Small Municipality Consulting Firm Appointment - BER 74-2
- WXY Engineering Conditional Ethical Permissibility - Present Case
- WXY No Private Work Conflict Negation - Present Case
Engineer A WXY Engineering Small Municipality Public Interest Dual Role Justification
prevails over
WXY Engineers Incumbent Multi-Contract City Engineer Non-Acceptance Obligation Instance
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Small Municipality Consulting Firm Appointment - BER 74-2
- WXY Engineering Conditional Ethical Permissibility - Present Case
- WXY No Private Work Conflict Negation - Present Case
Engineer A WXY Engineering Prospective Evolving Conflict Ongoing Disclosure
prevails over
WXY Engineers Incumbent Multi-Contract City Engineer Non-Acceptance Obligation Instance
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Small Municipality Consulting Firm Appointment - BER 74-2
- WXY Engineering Conditional Ethical Permissibility - Present Case
- WXY No Private Work Conflict Negation - Present Case
Engineer A WXY Engineering Self-Review Non-Performance Structural Boundary
prevails over
Engineer A WXY Engineering Faithful Agent City H Advisory Role
No State context committed for this edge.
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Engineer A Small Municipality Engineering Service Access Public Welfare Facilitation Instance vs WXY Engineers Incumbent Multi-Contract City Engineer Non-Acceptance Obligation Instance
Engineer A Structural Conflict Proactive Disclosure to City H Instance vs Engineer A WXY Engineering Faithful Agent City H Advisory Role
Engineer A WXY Engineering Faithful Agent City H Advisory Role vs Engineer A WXY Prospective City Engineer Self-Interest Advisory Non-Distortion Instance
Engineer A WXY Engineering Self-Review Non-Performance Structural Boundary vs Engineer A WXY Engineering Small Municipality Public Interest Dual Role Justification
Engineer A WXY Engineering Self-Review Non-Performance Structural Boundary vs Engineer B BER 63-5 Client Self-Review Waiver Recognition
WXY Engineers Incumbent Multi-Contract City Engineer Non-Acceptance Obligation Instance vs WXY Engineers Part-Time Municipal Engineer Dual-Role Permissibility Boundary Assessment Instance
WXY Engineers Incumbent Multi-Contract City Engineer Non-Acceptance Obligation Instance vs WXY Private-Client Absence Partial Mitigation Residual Conflict Assessment Instance
What the board concluded
- It would be ethical for Engineer A’s firm, WXY Engineers, to serve as city engineer for City H, perform general consulting services, and be under contract to provide specific design services.
How comparable cases resolved the same tension
A faithful-agent duty yields to a public-protection obligation. The yielding obligation ("Faithful Agent") recurs across cases; the obligation that overrides it and the context under which it yields differ case by case. This is the case-law move: not a single rule, but a family of context-indexed resolutions.
| Case | Obligation that prevailed | Yielding obligation | Context (defeasibleUnder) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
24-01
Balancing Client Directives and Public...
|
Engineer L Client Budget Pressure Refusal | Engineer L Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer L Confirmed Risk Without Safeguards; Engineer L Resource Constrained Client |
| Engineer L Client Override Regulatory Report | Engineer L Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer L Confirmed Risk Without Safeguards; Engineer L Resource Constrained Client | |
|
20-4
Public Health, Safety, and...
|
Engineer B Post-Override Regulatory Reporting | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | MWC Override of Engineers A and B |
| Engineer A Post-Override Regulatory Reporting | Engineer A Faithful Agent Boundary | MWC Override of Engineers A and B | |
|
95-5
Failure To Include Information In...
|
Engineer B Expert Witness Neutrality | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer B Adversarial Engagement; Engineer B Client Defense Bias |
| Engineer B Complete Technical Reporting | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer B Adversarial Engagement; Engineer B Client Defense Bias | |
|
04-8
Public Welfare—Client Action Following...
|
Engineer A Safety Obligation Wetland Fill | Engineer A Faithful Agent Limits Wetland | Engineer A Confirmed Environmental Risk; Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty Conflict |
| Engineer A Wetland Confidentiality Limits | Engineer A Faithful Agent Limits Wetland | Engineer A Confirmed Environmental Risk; Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty Conflict |