CHINESE WALLS

Chinese Walls: an often unappreciated IP topic

Every so often the IPKat comes across a book that is a little off the beaten track of intellectual property. Once such book is the second edition of Charles Hollander's and Simon Salzedo's Conflicts of Interest and Chinese Walls, published by Sweet & Maxwell. The authors, both of Brick Court Chambers, have compiled a tome which is, by its publisher's standards, relatively slight -- a mere 350 pages (273 pages plus appendices) -- but also highly focused.

Hollander (left) and Salzedo

Since the landmark decision of the House of Lords on conflicts of interest in Bolkiah v KPMG, closely followed by the conflict considered in the Pinochet case, there has been considerable concern as to how a single entity, be it a law firm, a financial consultancy or anything else, can prevent the seepage of confidential information within itself, where it may be acting both for and against the interests of the same party. This concern has been evidenced by a subsequent flow of important judicial decisions in this area of law.

This book analyses the current state of play in an area of law which is still developing. Each professional sector is examined in detail and advice is offered on strategies for assessing and managing conflict situations.
The authors offer answers to questions such as:

* What is a conflict and when does it arise?
* How do Chinese Walls operate and when are they permissible?
* What are the remedies for a client when his adviser acts for the other side?
* What is the impact of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ?

The IPKat's verdict: this is a useful tool for any professional practitioner who wants to stay clear of trouble. At £165 it's not cheap, but the cost of getting conflicted out when you're in the middle of acting in a complex matter is far higher.