Key clients revealed in Deacons HK case

Standard Chartered Bank and KPMG have emerged as the two major clients at the centre of the ongoing litigation between Deacons and White & Case.
Deacons alleges that former insolvency partners Mark Fairbairn and Edward Cairns induced Standard Chartered, one of the firm's key clients, to transfer its work to White & Case. The Hong Kong firm also alleges that Fairbairn was "instrumental in persuading KPMG to approach White & Case" in connection with work in the People's Republic of China before he served notice to his old firm, the Hong Kong High Court heard last week.
White & Case, Fairbairn and Cairns are vigorously defending the action.
Deacons and White & Case became embroiled in the battle after White & Case poached an insolvency team from Deacons' Hong Kong office. Deacons alleges that White & Case breached a confidentiality and non-solicitation clause from a 1999 merger agreement between the two firms.
The trial continues.