With a history in the world of financial services regulation,
"know your customer/client" or
"KYC" is a cornerstone of professional practice.
What does it mean for legal professionals? In this instalment of my
series on defensive advising strategies, I consider three aspects
of KYC which are particularly relevant to lawyers, with an emphasis
on the interface between solicitors and other professionals and the
barristers they instruct. This perspective is based on my own
experience as a practitioner and raises issues which crop up
relatively frequently.
Identifying and managing conflicts of interest
Firms of solicitors and accountants can develop long-standing
relationships with particular families or groups of companies in a
way that barristers do not. It can therefore be difficult for, say,
a firm of private client solicitors to identify at any particular
time which individuals the firm is acting for. It is accordingly
not always easy to ensure that conflicts of
