1776
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| Each jurisdiction's Public Defender and each jurisdiction's Capital Defense Unit should be considered separate legal entities for conflicts purposes, because each office acts independently, has a secure computer system and bears none of the indicia of offices in a multi-office law firm. Although a single state Commission oversees all of the offices, this fact should not result in a presumption that information in one office is shared with other offices. A Public Defender in an office may represent a capital defendant in a matter adverse to a client formerly represented by another lawyer in that office, "unless the defense of the current client would require the use of [protected] information obtained in the representation of the former client." |