Chinese walls and "screens"

Question

It has come to my attention that in the AmE lawyer world there's been a decline in the usage of the term "Chinese wall" in favor of "screen". I wonder whether, if this is true, it reflects concerns (misguided or not) that "Chinese wall" is a racially-insensitive term like, say, "Chinese fire drill". In addition, "screen" seems closer to the Japanese 'paper wall screen' thingie that someone here suggested might be behind the usage of "Chinese wall" (instead of 'Great Wall of China').

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]It has come to my attention that in the AmE lawyer world there's been a decline in the usage of the term "Chinese wall" in favor of "screen".[/nq]
I have been required to respect a number of "Chinese walls" over the years. I have never heard the term "Chinese screen" used in this context. I'd be interested to see an actual example of such use.

Mike Nitabach

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]It has come to my attention that in the AmE ... usage of the term "Chinese wall" in favor of "screen".[/nq]
[nq:1]I have been required to respect a number of "Chinese walls" over the years. I have never heard the term "Chinese screen" used in this context. I'd be interested to see an actual example of such use.[/nq]
Not "Chinese screen", but just plain old "screen".

Clearly, if it's a real change (so far the only evidence I have is sort of anecdotal), it's not complete yet.
I've seen some evidence on the Web that "Ethical Wall" has been put forward as an alternative term.
Here's one webpage that contains a discussion that suggests that there *is* some PC pressure against the use of "Chinese Wall":

http://lawlibrary.ucdavis.edu/LAWLIB/sept00/0233.html

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I have been required to respect a number of "Chinese ... be interested to see an actual example of such use.[/nq]
[nq:1]Not "Chinese screen", but just plain old "screen".[/nq]
Ah. In that case, I have indeed heard this usage. The memorandum that was circulated in the law firm to detail the "screening protocol" in each instance was entitled "Screening Memorandum".

Mike Nitabach

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I have been required to respect a number of "Chinese ... be interested to see an actual example of such use.[/nq]
[nq:1]Not "Chinese screen", but just plain old "screen". Clearly, if it's a real change (so far the only evidence I ... webpage that contains a discussion that suggests that there *is* some PC pressure against the use of "Chinese Wall": http://lawlibrary.ucdavis.edu/LAWLIB/sept00/0233.html[/nq]
More than "some PC pressure" has been applied against the term. In 1988, Judge Harry W. Low, Presiding Justice of the California Court of Appeal, wrote a concurring opinion in Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. v. Superior Court (200 Cal.App.3d 272) where he singled out "Chinese Wall" as a "subtle form of linguistic discrimination":
I concur in the opinion of Justice Haning, but write separately to comment on the apparently widespread use of the term "Chinese Wall" to describe the type of screening mechanism discussed in this case. While our opinion uses the term "screen," both the parties and the trial court used the term "Chinese Wall," which seems to have become a term of art. I write to express my profound objection to the use of this phrase in this context.
The origin of the use of "Chinese Wall" in the context of confidentiality is unclear. Evidently, the term was casually coined in some appellate opinion, then picked up and used without question or explanation by courts and commentators. The unquestioned use of the term was perpetuated by a leading note on the subject, The
Chinese Wall Defense to Law-Firm Disqualification (1980)
128 U.Pa.L.Rev. 677, which is otherwise analytical andinformative. (See lead opn., fn. 2, p. 280.)
The enthusiasm for handy phrases of verbal shorthand is understandable. Occasionally, however, lawyers and judges use a term which is singularly inappropriate. "Chinese Wall" is one such piece of legal flotsam which should be emphatically abandoned. The term has an ethnic focus which many would consider a subtle form of linguistic discrimination. Certainly, the continued use of the term would be insensitive to the ethnic identity of the many persons of Chinese descent. Modern courts should not perpetuate the biases which creep into language from outmoded, and more primitive, ways of thought.

Aside from this discriminatory flavor, the term "Chinese Wall" is being used to describe a barrier of silence and secrecy. The barrier itself may work to further the cause of ethics in litigation; but the term ascribed to that barrier will necessarily be associated with constraints on the freedom of open communication. To employ in this context the image of the Great Wall of China, one of the magnificent wonders of the world and a structure of great beauty, is particularly inappropriate. One can imagine the response to the negative use of the images of the Eiffel Tower, the Great Pyramid of Cheops, or the Colossus of Rhodes.
Finally, "Chinese Wall" is not even an architecturally accurate metaphor for the barrier to communication created to preserve confidentiality. Such a barrier functions as a hermetic seal to prevent two-way communication between two groups. The Great Wall of China, on the other hand, was only a one-way barrier. It was built to keep outsiders out not to keep insiders in.
It is necessary to raise a clenched cry for jettisoning the outmoded legal jargon of a bygone time. If the image of a wall must be used, perhaps "ethics wall" is more suitable phraseology.
(ObAUE: "raise a clenched cry"?)
Judge Low's opinion has apparently carried some weight the websites below refer to it in objecting to "Chinese wall" as discriminatory:

http://www.paralegals.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=393 http://www.law-office.demon.co.uk/art%20confli-1.htm http://asianbar.tripod.com/NotaBenes/abas%2001.01.pdf http://www.aaba-bay.com/aaba/docs/aaba-502b.pdf
http://llr.lls.edu/volumes/v33-issue1/gibbons-white.pdf

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]More than "some PC pressure" has been applied against the term. In 1988, Judge Harry W. Low, Presiding Justice of ... v. Superior Court (200 Cal.App.3d 272) where he singled out "Chinese Wall" as a "subtle form of linguistic discrimination":[/nq]
[nq:1]It is necessary to raise a clenched cry for jettisoning the outmoded legal jargon of a bygone time. If the image of a wall must be used, perhaps "ethics wall" is more suitable phraseology. (ObAUE: "raise a clenched cry"?)[/nq]
Judge Low has some interesting bedfellows:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22clenched+cry%22

Mike Nitabach

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]It is necessary to raise a clenched cry for jettisoning ... wall" is more suitable phraseology. (ObAUE: "raise a clenched cry"?)[/nq]
[nq:1]Judge Low has some interesting bedfellows:[/nq]
Oops. Must have pulled the wrong book out of his briefcase!
Michael West
Melbourne, Australia

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]More than "some PC pressure" has been applied against the ... out "Chinese Wall" as a "subtle form of linguistic discrimination":[/nq]
[nq:2]It is necessary to raise a clenched cry for jettisoning ... wall" is more suitable phraseology. (ObAUE: "raise a clenched cry"?)[/nq]
[nq:1]Judge Low has some interesting bedfellows: [/nq]
You weren't kidding when you said 'bedfellows' ...
John Dean
Oxford

Chinese walls and "screens"

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions