CHICAGO – European planemaker Airbus SAS went to court Friday to stop a powerhouse Washington law firm from continuing to represent Boeing Co. in a high-stakes trade dispute, citing conflict of interest.
Marco Bronckers, a Belgium-based lawyer at WilmerHale, represented Airbus more than 15 years ago while at a different firm, according to a filing in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
Because of his prior work, Airbus claims Bronckers possesses confidential business information that would harm the company in the massive case before the World Trade Organization.
“The firm essentially has a copy of the Airbus playbook,” said Clay McConnell, an Airbus spokesman.
“That makes for a pretty uneven playing field,” McConnell said.
Airbus’ legal maneuver highlights the increasingly bitter nature of the trade feud, which could alter the balance of power in the $50 billion jetliner market. The United States and European Union accuse each other of supporting their respective plane manufacturers with billions of dollars in unfair government subsidies.
The two sides continue to insist they prefer a settlement instead of a costly and drawn-out adjudication process at the WTO. But this latest move could exacerbate the tensions.
It’s uncertain how the legal action could affect the WTO cases because the complaints were filed by the governments, not Chicago-based Boeing or Airbus. But WilmerHale gathered evidence that eventually helped convince U.S. trade officials to take the dispute to the WTO.
The WTO proceedings are on hold as the two governments work to consolidate some of the legal matters.
WilmerHale said it will fight Airbus’ attempt to disqualify the firm.
“While we have not yet seen the court papers, we are familiar with the matter, which as reported concerns work done by a partner when at another law firm more than 15 years ago,” Bill Perlstein, co-managing partner, said in a prepared statement. “There has been no breach of any ethical obligations by our firm, and we intend to oppose the motion vigorously.”
Boeing declined to comment.
Bronckers, who could not be reached for comment, joined WilmerHale in 2002. He has been “walled off” from the firm’s representation of Boeing, which began about three years ago, a WilmerHale spokesman said.
According to his biography on the firm’s Web site, Bronckers has a leading reputation in international trade law and is considered an expert on subsidies.
In 1987, Airbus retained Bronckers, who at the time worked for Dutch law firm Van Doorne & Sjollema, to represent the company in matters concerning trade in large commercial aircraft, according to the court filing. His representation extended through the early 1990s, during which time he was a key member of the company’s legal team evaluating strategies to counter criticism of European plane subsidies. He also helped prepare Airbus to bring a counter-complaint against government support that Boeing has received, court papers said.
The matters handled by Bronckers are some of the same legal issues that have been raised in the current dispute, Airbus said in the court filing. This gives him inside knowledge of Airbus’ legal strategy, which is a conflict of interest under Washington, D.C., bar rules, Airbus contends.
Most states have strict ethics rules about avoiding potential client conflicts, said Steven Lubet, a law professor at Northwestern University. For there to be a conflict under standard American law, “there would have to be a fairly close factual nexus between earlier representation of Airbus and Wilmer’s current representation of Boeing,” he said.
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AP-NY-06-02-06 2005EDT
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