The High Court has recently held that privilege was not lost in a solicitor’s note of a client interview in circumstances where the note had been disclosed to the SFO under a limited waiver and then referred to in the course of argument during a criminal trial held in public: SL Claimants v Tesco plc; … Read more

The Court of Appeal has held that the claimant was not entitled to withhold from inspection communications that had been incorporated into a settlement agreement with one of five defendants. That was despite the fact that, at the time they were made, those communications had been protected by the without prejudice rule, and potentially also … Read more

The Court of Appeal has held that an email containing advice from an in-house lawyer on redundancy was not, as the EAT had found, a cloak for dismissal on the basis of discrimination: Curless v Shell International Limited [2019] EWCA Civ 1710. The Court of Appeal agreed with the Employment Tribunal that the advice given … Read more

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that the documents of a dissolved company remain privileged, regardless of whether there is anyone who can assert the company’s privilege: Addlesee v Dentons Europe LLP [2019] EWCA Civ 1600. The decision establishes that, once a privileged communication comes into existence, that privilege is absolute and remains intact unless … Read more

In a recent decision, the High Court has distinguished between correspondence which is expressly stated to be “without prejudice” and that which is only impliedly so, finding that the latter category (but not the former) can be taken into account on questions of costs: Sternberg Reed Solicitors v Harrison [2019] EWHC 2065 (Ch). There is … Read more

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that an employer waived privilege in redacted parts of a draft dismissal letter setting out its lawyer’s comments, as a result of the employer’s decision to rely on other privileged material relating to the claimant’s dismissal: Kasongo v Humanscale UK Ltd [2019] UKEAT 0129_19_0909. It is well established … Read more

Our Asia Pacific Guide to Privilege has recently been launched, including a new chapter on England and Wales and a question added to each of the other chapters comparing the position on privilege to the English law position. Compiled by our network of Herbert Smith Freehills lawyers and trusted local counsel, the updated Guide takes … Read more

Legal professional privilege is recognised as a fundamental human right, which serves an important public interest in allowing parties to take legal advice, and prepare for litigation, without fear that what they say may later be disclosed and used against them. But the English law of privilege has developed in ways that many clients and … Read more