A dispute over a local law firm's logo may end up in court after the firm rejected

a request by the country's bar association to amend it. David Chanaiwa said DC&A's

logo - featuring a tipped set of the scales of justice - was art, not a

comment on the country's judicial system.

Ang Engthong, president of the Bar Association of Cambodia (BAC), dismissed Chanaiwa's

reasoning as "too philosophical" and said the logo would reflect badly

on the reputation of the country's courts.

"The scales must be equally balanced," said Engthong. Referring to the

firm's Khmer name, DC&A International Club of Attorneys, he added: "The

word 'club' is not right either because he is the only lawyer in the firm."

Chanaiwa denied his "artistic" slant on the scales of justice would affect

either the state of the law or the country's democracy. Other than the creative reference,

he said, the tipped scales also represented the fact that different lawyers had different

degrees of talent, and there could be only one winner in a case.

"A kilogram of iron and a kilogram of gold have a different price," he

said. "Lawyers are not equal during a trial, because one wins while the other

loses."

As for concerns over the word 'club', Chanaiwa insisted that too was accurate since

he worked with other lawyers both inside and outside the country.

Engthong will deliver a report on the logo to the BAC council; meanwhile Chanaiwa

has said he is prepared to go all the way to the Appeals Court for the right to keep

his logo.