Conflicts of interest in the entertainment industry have increasingly attracted significant attention. The public and the profession seem to have insatiable appetites for following lawsuits filed by famous artists against their famous lawyers. The lawsuits are a wake-up call to many entertainment lawyers to re-examine their practices in light of the profession’s codes of conduct.

The unconventional culture of the entertainment business is conducive to conflicts of interest and other lawyer misconduct. The business is fast-paced, highly competitive, and intense. It has also been described as “incestuous”; a premium is attached to “who you know.” The entertainment business also tends to be dominated, at least at the corporate top, by a small number of resilient power-brokers. It is not unusual for these individuals to be fired or to resign from their positions and then to resurface in a similarly powerful position in another company. Good entertainment lawyers follow the trade journals and other media to track the activities and movements of this group. Part of the purpose of keeping abreast of such developments in the entertainment business should be to avoid conflicts of interest and other potential ethical problems.

It is worth noting that some experts in the entertainment business feel that conflicts of interest not only are common but also may be beneficial to parties. For example, if a prominent entertainment attorney represents a successful producer and a famous actor and unites them, as some agents do, in a "package" deal, that combination may ensure a “box-office hit.” Although the package deal brings together clients with possibly differing interests, the combination ultimately makes the producer, actor, lawyer, and studio more successful. Everyone wins. For a less famous talent, the package is very valuable because it could launch their career towards national prominence. There is always the risk however, that attorneys may protect their special relationships with the studio and others in package deals by promoting more prominent clients at the expense of less famous clients.