conflict of interest

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A conflict between a person's private interests and public obligations.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun law A situation in which someone in a position of trust, such as a lawyer, insurance adjuster, a politician, executive or director of a corporation or a medical research scientist or physician, has competing professional or personal interests.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a situation in which a public official's decisions are influenced by the official's personal interests