Beijing Bar Association, Avoidance of Conflicts of Interest by the Legal Profession Rules (Trial Implementation)

Issued: June 27 2001
Effective: as of date of issue
Interpreting authority: Standing Committee of Beijing Bar Association
Applicability: The Rules are applicable to members of the Beijing Bar Association, including law firms and lawyers (Article 2). For the purposes of the Rules, "conflict of interest" means a circumstance in which there is a conflict of interest between a matter being handled by a law firm and the principal of another matter being handled by the same law firm such that the continued handling of either matter would directly affect the interest of a relevant principal (Article 4).

Main contents: The Rules require a law firm to conduct due inquiry and verification before accepting a request for legal representation to ensure that no conflict of interest would arise in connection with any other client (Article 7). If a conflict of interest exists, it should be made known to the person who requests legal representation and only if the person grants a waiver in writing in respect of the conflict may the law firm accept the request (Article 8). However, in a litigation or arbitration case, lawyers of the same law firm may not represent parties in opposition to each other and the same lawyer may not represent parties who, although not in opposition to each other in the case, have a conflict of interest between them (Articles 9 and 10). Also, if any lawyer of the firm has had a regular or special legal counsel relationship with a party to the case within the last 12 months, the other lawyers of the firm shall not represent the other side to the case (Article 9). In non-litigious matters, a lawyer may simultaneously represent parties between whom a conflict of interest exists provided that the lawyer has obtained written consent from the relevant principals (Article 11). Parties not in opposition to one another but between them a conflict of interest exists may be represented by different lawyers of the same law firm provided that the parties consent to such representation and necessary firewalls are put in place between the relevant lawyers (Article 12).
Related legislation:PRC, Lawyers Law (Amended), Oct 28 2007, CLP 2007 No.10 p83; The All China Law Association, Professional Ethics and Practice Disciplines Standards and Beijing Bar Association, Lawyer Practice Standards (Trial Implementation), Jul 4 2001, CLP 2001 No.7 p15