The High Court has held that evidence of statements made in “without prejudice” settlement discussions should be admitted in support of an application for a freezing order. The respondents’ threat – to move assets and structure its affairs to frustrate the applicants’ enforcement of a US judgment – fell within the narrow “unambiguous impropriety” exception … Read more
In a recent decision, the High Court found that the claimant’s reference to an expert’s preliminary report in the context of a security for costs application had not amounted to a collateral waiver of privilege, so the report itself did not have to be disclosed: Two Renewables Ltd v Reeves [2020] EWHC 789 (Ch). It … Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it huge challenges for businesses. While the focus has been on keeping business going, rather than the prospect of litigation in the future over decisions taken now, it seems inevitable that litigation will follow such a major disruption of the global economy. Given that documents created now will be … Read more
In the most recent chapter of the Dawson-Damer trust litigation, the Court of Appeal has held that a law firm acting for the defendant trustee in the underlying proceedings must comply (in part) with a subject access request made by the claimant beneficiaries, despite its claims to legal professional privilege (“LPP”) in some of the … Read more
A High Court Master has found that documents held by a firm of solicitors on behalf of a former client were not protected by legal professional privilege, as there was a strong prima facie case that the firm had been instructed for the purpose of furthering the client’s fraudulent investment scheme: Addlesee v Dentons Europe … Read more
The Court of Appeal’s recent decision in The Civil Aviation Authority v The Queen on the application of Jet2.com Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 35 found that legal advice privilege (LAP) is subject to a “dominant purpose” test, and also considered how LAP applies in the context of multi-addressee emails which include both lawyers and non-lawyers … Read more
In a judgment handed down this morning, the Court of Appeal has held that an audit client was not required to hand over its privileged documents in response to a notice from its auditor’s regulator requiring the production of documents in connection with an investigation into the auditor’s conduct: Sports Direct International Plc v The … Read more
We have today launched our new series of commercial litigation update podcasts, looking at developments in civil procedure that will be of interest to in-house lawyers and others who deal with litigation in the English courts. In this first episode we look at recent developments in disclosure and privilege. This episode is hosted by Anna … Read more
The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court decision which rejected an application for disclosure of documents containing a client’s instructions to its lawyers regarding the holding and transfer of escrow monies, in circumstances where the law firm had provided a confirmation to a counterparty as to the nature of its instructions: Raiffeisen Bank International … Read more
