In the Matter of Gulf Investment Corporation et al v The Port Fund LP et al (“Gulf Investment”) and the earlier judgment of Dorsey Ventures Limited v XIO GP Limited (“Dorsey Ventures”), the Cayman Islands Grand Court provided...more
In December 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) made a preliminary ruling which will herald a significant, and welcome, impact on the treatment of lawyer-client communications by the EU courts. The...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 English High Court has issued a stern reminder that legal professional privilege is not absolute, and that orders may be made for the disclosure of documents "notwithstanding any apparent privilege with which they may be...more
In a judgment made public on 16 May 2022, the High Court has made unprecedented findings of “extraordinary” and “almost unimaginable” misconduct by ENRC’s former solicitor, Neil Gerrard, and “bad faith opportunism” by three...more
A recent judgment of the Australian Federal Court has highlighted the risk of waiving legal professional privilege if companies refer to the findings of a privileged report in public statements....more
Conyers represented the successful respondent trustees in the recent Court of Appeal decision in Wang, Ven Jiao v Grand View PTC & Ors [2021] Civil Appeal No.4, in which the Court refused an application for leave to appeal...more
U.S. criminal law has a long reach outside the borders of the United States. Australian companies and individuals whose activities touch on the United States—even without having offices or any physical presence in the United...more
Many of our clients are increasingly faced with internal investigations, some with complex compliance or whistleblowing features. Our April client alert looks at some of the key considerations before embarking upon any...more
Background and history of proceedings - The background to the latest instalment in the long-running dispute between Sports Direct International (“SDI”) (now renamed Frasers Group plc) and the Financial Reporting Council...more
The creation, storage and importance of data snowballs daily. And this data has a direct impact on the merger control process and the timely completion of large-scale M&A transactions. As more data is created, it has a...more
The Court narrowly interprets dominant purpose to exempt general tax advice from legal privilege. In Financial Reporting Council Ltd v Frasers Group Plc (formerly Sports Direct International Plc) [2020] EWHC 2607 (Ch), the...more
English High Court holds that alleged breaches of a director’s statutory duties can engage the ‘iniquity exception’, which disapplies legal professional privilege under certain conditions. In Barrowfen Properties v Girish...more
Two English High Court decisions have addressed separate but important points of principle relevant to the availability and application of English legal professional privilege (“privilege”) which are particularly relevant for...more
The courts have recently sent contrasting signals in respect of the scope of legal professional privilege (“LPP”). In A v B and Financial Reporting Council, Mr Justice Trower restated and applied the law on legal advice...more
The Court of Appeal has recently handed down a number of important judgments addressing the scope of Legal Professional Privilege (LPP). In Sports Direct International plc v Financial Reporting Council, a unanimous Court of...more
Pandemic-Related Uncertainty Means Business Decisions Will Be Highly Scrutinized - As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop, guiding a business through this time of immense crisis means making decisions that gravely...more
Court battles with regulators over privilege and the disclosure of documents are becoming increasingly common. However, it is not often that you see a regulator seeking to obtain the privileged documents of a third party who...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
KEY POINTS - The UK Regulations, finalised on 13 January 2020, will only apply in relation to direct EU taxes. - The Legal Professional Privilege exemption is still unclear. - Penalties have been capped at £5,000. ...more
Key Points - Coming into force on 1 July 2020, EU DAC6 Regulations will require intermediaries in certain cross-border arrangements to disclose activity to tax authorities. - The DAC will apply retroactively to affected...more
The approach of the Serious Fraud Office (the “SFO”) to compelled interviews is a longstanding source of frustration for criminal defence lawyers. The beginning of Lisa Osofsky’s tenure as Director and the introduction of...more
The Situation: In an era of sophisticated cyberattacks and data leaks, questions have been raised over whether the doctrine of legal professional privilege ("LPP") should be extended to provide clients with a legal right to...more
On 6 August 2019, the UK Serious Fraud Office (‘SFO’) published Corporate Co-operation Guidance (‘Guidance’). This Guidance is designed to assist companies considering whether to self-report corporate wrongdoing to the SFO...more