Taking Stock - Andersen Consulting staff in no-man's-land as

Following the arbitration ruling into the separation of Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting, it will be interesting to see how long it takes before Berlin Wall type scenarios are erected. The working relationship between employees of the two parties are bound to be strained following the ruling which stated Andersen Consulting is a stand-alone organisation. Some employees of the newly separated firms share the same building – just off London’s Embankment – where they can walk freely between each other’s offices. But we wonder how long it is going to be before accounting Berlin Walls sprout up to prevent this movement. As with any divorce, the involved individuals will now sit down to decide the painful things such as who keeps the John Lennon albums. What chances we wonder, of Andersen Consulting employees and partners arriving to find desks missing or pictures of loved ones trashed. Even worse are they likely to turn up at the office and find the locks changed? With the fall-out from the decision expected to take months, uneasy truces are certain to set in. Watch this space for developments. ?: