The last two Privilege Points have addressed the implied waiver implications of litigants (defendant in the Crypto King’s trial and plaintiff in the case described last week) relying on legal advice to defend against or...more
The US concepts of the attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine are rooted in England’s and Wales’s legal advice and litigation privileges. The primary purpose of the attorney-client privilege and the legal...more
According to a new judgment LPP protects private communication between clients and lawyers, limiting requests for information in competition proceedings. Key Points: ..Clients can now argue that their communications with...more
The Supreme Court was seemingly set to decide whether and when a party can assert attorney-client privilege protection over communications containing both legal and non-legal advice, but SCOTUS recently decided to bypass the...more
The “attorney-client privilege” may be the most well-known and misunderstood legal principles. Both attorneys and clients often make broad assumptions about its scope and application. When these assumptions turn out to be...more
On October 3, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in a federal grand jury proceeding that may result in the Court expanding the scope of the attorney-client privilege for dual-purpose business communications....more
When are communications with counsel that are for both legal advice and business purposes protected by the attorney-client privilege? From least to most stringent, courts have required that a communication be “because of”...more
In this alert, we consider a recent judgment of the English High Court on legal advice privilege with respect to foreign in-house lawyers, particularly in the context of non-“Advocate” Russian in-house lawyers. Legal...more
Businesses' ability to adapt to the "new normal" of remote working in the UK has been astonishing and commendable. However, the official communication lines that protect legal privilege (amongst other things) may be eroded if...more
Any recorded communication (for example: emails, recorded phone conversations (including voicemails), letters, memoranda, computer records etc) may have to be produced to the other party in litigation or other adversarial...more
The Court ruled on the “dominant purpose” test and offered guidance on the status of multiparty emails, and attachments. Two recent Court of Appeal judgments have sought to clarify, and offer practical guidance relating...more
In The Civil Aviation Authority v R (on the application of Jet2.com Limited), the Court of Appeal, upholding the High Court decision, has affirmed that legal advice privilege (LAP) is subject to a dominant purpose test. This...more
In Civil Aviation Authority v. R (on the Application of Jet2.com Ltd.), the English Court of Appeal clarified the test for legal advice privilege, confirming the need to show that the dominant purpose of the relevant...more
Following closely behind the Jet2 decision (see our note, Court of Appeal Gives Important New Guidance on Legal Advice Privilege), the Court of Appeal has again turned its attention to privilege, this time in relation to the...more
The Situation: A line of authority, typically associated with Rich v Harrington [2007] FCA 1987, (2007) 245 ALR 106 ("Rich"), has held that for legal professional privilege to be claimed in relation to advice from an in-house...more
It is well established that the “dominant purpose” test applies in the context of litigation privilege. However, until now, it has been unclear whether the test also applies to legal advice privilege (LAP). Further, there are...more
In Raffeisen Bank International AG v Asia Coal Energy Ventures Ltd & Ashurst LLP, the Court of Appeal distinguished the case of Conlon v Conlons Ltd, and provided a helpful analysis of the circumstances in which instructions...more
In a judgment handed down this week, The Civil Aviation Authority v Jet2.Com Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 35, the Court of Appeal has given important new guidance on a number of issues that arise as to the scope of Legal Advice...more
Understanding the boundaries of legal privilege in corporate internal investigations is critical. When counsel, either internal or external, misunderstands these boundaries, the result can be disastrous....more
The decision clarifies how lawyer-client privilege applies in the context of transactions. The recent English High Court decision Raiffeisen Bank International AG v Asia Coal Energy Ventures Limited and Ashurst provides...more
Claims for legal advice privilege were said to be subject to a dominant purpose test, namely whether the communication or document was brought into existence with the dominant purpose of it or its contents being used to...more
The English Court of Appeal's much - anticipated decision on legal professional privilege in Director of the Serious Fraud Office v. Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Ltd. contains mixed news for companies conducting...more
Solicitor-client privilege applies broadly to the continuum of communications concerning matters within the solicitor-client relationship, the BC Court of Appeal recently held in British Columbia (Attorney General) v. Lee,...more
The High Court has delivered an important judgment on the application of legal advice privilege to factual reports delivered by lawyers to their clients in the context of a regulatory investigation. In the case of Property...more
Our first article this month addresses the treatment of the attorney-client privilege in employee benefits matters. Pursuant to the so-called "fiduciary exception," communications between an attorney and a plan fiduciary are...more