http://www.cnbc.com/id/35524101/site/14081545/for/cnbc/ Prominent US lobbying firm drops Toyota as client By: The Associated Press | 22 Feb 2010 WASHINGTON - A prominent lobbying firm has dropped Toyota as a client after realizing that representing the besieged automaker posed a conflict with another customer, the State Farm insurance company. J. David Hoppe, president of Quinn Gillespie & Associates, Friday said the firm had learned tht another client "was in a position adverse to Toyota" and stopped representing the Japanese automaker. Hoppe would not identify the other client. An auto industry official, speaking on condition of anonymity to reveal confidential information, said the other client was State Farm, the country's largest auto insurer. State Farm has said it told federal regulators in 2007 about reports of unexpected acceleration in Toyotas, which was one reason the company has recalled vehicles.
Ouch. That stuff happens. Sometimes conflicts develop over time. Better to find out on the front end when they occur and take appropriate action, then realize it later.
