Legal Advice Privilege and Dismissal – Littleton Chambers
‘Two recent cases have cast light on the issue of legal professional privilege in employment disputes.’
Littleton Chambers, 12th November 2019
Source: www.littletonchambers.com
‘Two recent cases have cast light on the issue of legal professional privilege in employment disputes.’
Littleton Chambers, 12th November 2019
Source: www.littletonchambers.com
‘The First-tier Tribunal has ordered Ryedale District Council to disclose the briefing question it sent to a Queen’s Counsel seeking advice on a motion in which councillors sought for competing retail planning applications to be ‘called in’.’
Local Government Lawyer, 1st November 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Addlesee v Dentons Europe LLP [2019] EWCA Civ 1600 (2 October 2019) provides a ringing endorsement of the rule ‘once privileged, always privileged’. The Court of Appeal held that the defendant solicitors had a duty to uphold the privilege of a former client even though the former client was a company which had been dissolved. The court also held that the solicitors had acted properly in appearing by counsel to argue that the privilege should be upheld, even though the privilege was not the solicitors’ own privilege, and they did not have instructions from the former client. William Flenley QC, leading Adam Kramer, appeared for the successful solicitors.’
Hailsham Chambers, 7th October 2019
Source: www.hailshamchambers.com
‘A former senior in-house lawyer at Shell cannot rely on a leaked internal email or an overheard pub conversation in his discrimination claim against the company, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’
Legal Futures, 23rd October 2019
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Redacting comments made by a company’s lawyer on a draft dismissal letter while disclosing other privileged documents was “impermissible cherry picking”, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled.’
Litigation Futures, 15th October 2019
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘“Not very” seems to be the answer in the Court of Appeal decision in M (Children) [ 2019] EWCA Civ 1364 . Sir Andrew McFarlane upheld Keehan J’s decision to disclose the parents’ initial statement and position statement to the police following the initial interim care hearing. In family proceedings parents are advised that their evidence is confidential to those proceedings. They are encouraged to be open and frank and to understand that their children’s interests are the Court’s main concern. But something seems to be eroding these principles, a trend set since the case of Re H (Children) [2009] EWCA. The Court of appeal approved the test from Re C ( see below) and gave it the “fit for purpose” badge. The decision should be seen in the context of this being a police terrorism enquiry.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 7th August 2019
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘The High Court has backed international firm Taylor Wessing over its refusal to disclose privileged information to the beneficiary of a Bahamian trust. Taylor Wessing was acting for the trustee of the Glennfinnan Settlement when a beneficiary of the trust requested personal data about parties to litigation in the Bahamas.’
Law Society's Gazette, 23rd May 2019
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘In this article Richard Spearman QC discusses the issues raised in Winstone and Others v MGN Ltd [2019] EWHC (Ch) 265 in which he represented the defendant. The application arose in the Mirror Newspapers Hacking Litigation, and concerned the extent to which materials subject to legal professional privilege remained susceptible to protection after they had been pleaded by claimants.’
39 Essex Chambers, 28th February 2019
Source: www.39essex.com
‘The president of the family division has rejected a wife’s application to admit the statement of a “whistleblower” inside her former husband’s legal team who sent the court privileged information.’
Legal Futures, 5th March 2019
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘A recent High Court case demonstrates that companies will usually need to carry out their own internal investigations before being able to successfully obtain certain court orders in cases of suspected employee fraud, an expert has said.’
OUT-LAW.com, 14th January 2019
Source: www.out-law.com
‘Internal investigations are increasingly being conducted by companies not only on regulatory grounds but also in response to employment issues such as whistleblowing and discrimination allegations. In SFO v ENRC [2018] EWCA Civ 2006, the Court of Appeal has significantly widened the scope of legal professional privilege in the context of an internal company investigation. It will now be easier for the employer to assert privilege over employees’ witness statements and other documents generated in an investigation.’
Littleton Chambers, 26th November 2018
Source: www.littletonchambers.com
‘The same issues often crop up across an array of regulatory work. Legal professional privilege is the most obvious example, with a number of high profile cases arising out of SFO investigations. A second example concerns the rights of third parties to prevent the publication of adverse comment about them in regulatory reports and decisions (‘Maxwellisation’). In this article, Jamie Smith QC and Helen Evans explain how these two issues have arisen in the context of disciplinary investigations and proceedings undertaken by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which plays an important role in the regulation of accountants.’
4 New Square, 11th December 2018
Source: www.4newsquare.com
‘An auction house has failed to establish litigation privilege over correspondence with experts about whether or not a painting it sold was counterfeit, in a case brought by the seller of that painting.’
OUT-LAW.com, 10th December 2018
Source: www.out-law.com
‘“Purely commercial discussions” within a business about settling a dispute before litigation has begun are not protected by litigation privilege, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’
Litigation Futures, 10th December 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Letters between Sotheby’s and two art experts concerning the authenticity of an Old Master painting sold for over $11m are not covered by litigation privilege, the High Court has ruled.’
Litigation Futures, 27th November 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Legal professional privilege can protect the documents of a dissolved company from disclosure, the High Court has ruled in a case involving global firm Dentons.’
Legal Futures, 22nd November 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘A party’s claim to legal advice privilege over two internal emails has been rejected by the High Court, which has also ordered a privileged document disclosed by mistake destroyed.’
Litigation Futures, 8th November 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The ongoing uncertainty around the post-Brexit landscape, a vital appeal decision over legal professional privilege and disclosure reforms have been dominating the headlines for litigators.’
New Law Journal, 1st November 2018
Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk
‘The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will not appeal to the Supreme Court last month’s ruling that documents generated in connection with an investigation into the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) were protected by litigation privilege, it has confirmed.’
OUT-LAW.com, 3rd October 2018
Source: www.out-law.com