We've long been talking about conflicts of interest on Wall Street (Wall Street news). Seems like every scandal boils down to one or another. But here's one that we haven't said much about. Airgas has sued its one-time law firm, Cravath, Swaine, & Moore, to prevent the tony law firm from representing Air Products on its bid for Airgas.

According to Breakingviews.com, the crux of the argument is that Cravath, as counsel for Airgas, was privy to some corporate secrets that would provide its would-be acquirer with an unfair advantage. Cravath argues that its work for Airgas was limited to bond issuance work, and that it only dealt with public information, which doesn't seem quite right if worked on bond deals.

But here's the kicker--speaking of Cravath and whether it has some explaining to do to other clients, the article notes, "It's not sufficient to note that Airgas hired Goldman Sachs, a longtime advisor to Air Products. After all, executives expect such behavior of their bankers." An interesting swipe. 

For more:
- here's the Breakingviews article