In the recent Koch ‘Chinese walls’ case, in which the Court of Appeal reversed the first instance judgment of Mr Justice Andrew Smith, the court decided that the chances of confidential information being inadvertently disclosed within Richards Butler were “fanciful”.
Any other outcome might have sat somewhat uncomfortably with practices at the Bar, where it is common for barristers from the same chambers to appear opposite one another. Many lawyers felt that the practice could not have survived had the Koch decision gone the other way.
