A chance to hear the latest on employment, property, corporate and restructuring and insolvency and to ask questions and share your opinions.
DATE: Thursday 7 May 2020, 10:00am - 11:00am- delivered via Zoom Video Conference
Search site
Contact our office
Make an enquiry
One of the critical stages of litigation is the point at which the opposing parties are required to reveal to each other all of the documents they have in their possession which are relevant to the claim, and whether they help or hinder the disclosing party’s case. This process is called disclosure.
The disclosure process is usually undertaken early on in a claim and sometimes even before a claim is issued. However, the duty of disclosure continues as a claim proceeds so if a new document is discovered at a later stage, it must still be disclosed.
There are a few categories of documents which are exempt from disclosure. One such category are those documents that are subject to ‘legal advice privilege’. Documents that fall within this category are documents which were created or sent for the dominant purpose of obtaining or providing legal advice. If the ‘dominant purpose’ condition is satisfied, the documents are protected.
The document must have been created for the primary purpose of seeking or providing legal advice. The Court of Appeal has ruled in a recent decision that one cannot claim legal advice privilege simply because you have copied in a lawyer to an email as a third party to a discussion about commercial matters. It is the nature of the email that must be assessed. Was the purpose of the email to seek or provide legal advice? If not, simply copying the lawyer to the email provides no protection at all; the email will be disclosable.
Nor can one claim legal advice privilege because you have arranged for a lawyer to sit in on a meeting purely on the off-chance that their assistance may be required and in order to render the meeting minutes subject to legal advice privilege. What was actually discussed at the meeting? The mere presence of the lawyer will not result in the minutes becoming privileged. If legal advice is provided by the lawyer, the minutes may still need to be disclosed if the sections can be redacted.
Other categories of privilege include without prejudice privilege, public interest immunity privilege, common interest privilege and privilege against self-incrimination.
The lines can certainly become blurred when it comes to disclosure and whether a document is subject to privilege or not. It is important to understand that you cannot pick and choose which documents you wish to disclose. It is also equally important to be aware of the risk of creating documents that will subsequently fall to be disclosed. So one has to think carefully about those emails and memos that are create during the course of business and managers in particular should be trained to consider the implications of creating documents (including electronic documents).
If you require any advice or assistance in relation to matters raised in this article, please contact Victoria Raven of Hughes Paddison’s Litigation Team at vlr@hughes-paddison.co.uk.
A chance to hear the latest on employment, property, corporate and restructuring and insolvency and to ask questions and share your opinions.
DATE: Thursday 7 May 2020, 10:00am - 11:00am- delivered via Zoom Video Conference
Cheltenham based solicitors, Hughes Paddison, have announced two promotions within their Senior Management Team. Jon Rathbone has been made an Equity Director within the firm, whilst Julie Bennett has been made a Director.
What our clients say
“Hughes Paddison have provided assistance on numerous occasions consistently acting in an exemplary fashion whilst dealing with all aspects of the issue at hand. It is extremely reassuring to know that our company is represented by such a competent and professional firm.”– Commercial Director, Ferroli Limited
“We are lucky to have the services of Paul Engelbrecht on hand. He has always met our requests and ridiculous deadlines and puts himself out to make life easier for us”– Company Secretary - Supergroup PLC
“Paul has repeatedly demonstrated a high level of legal skill, accuracy, attentiveness and most of all, commercial acumen. I particularly appreciate his eye for detail and ability to take complex legal issues and explain them in lay terms. ”– Relationship Director RBS
“Whilst constantly demonstrating his consummate professionalism and occasional wry sense of humour David has at all times supported me and acted in my best interests resulting in a successful financial settlement and my divorce.”– V
“Jennifer provided sound professional legal advice which I needed to help me to sort out the legal and financial aspects of a difficult personal situation. I wouldn't hesitate to go to her with any family legal matters I have in future.”– R
“Having the support of Marcus throughout what has been a very painful divorce has really helped me get through the last 18 months. Although this has personally been a very difficult process, I know that Marcus has done everything possible to make it as smooth as it can be. I really appreciate the honest, open feedback to all of my questions and also how quickly he responded to them. Above all else, Marcus really does seem to care about his clients and their families. I never had the feeling that this was just a job for Marcus, and Im so grateful that I was fortunate enough to have had Marcus recommended to me when I did.”– R
Clicking the Accept All button means you are accepting analytics and third-party cookies (check the full list). We use cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience. To control which cookies are set, click Settings.
Our use of cookies.
You can learn more detailed information in our Privacy Policy
Some cookies are essential, whilst others help us improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. The technology to maintain this privacy management relies on cookie identifiers. Removing or resetting your browser cookies will reset these preferences.
Essential Cookies
These cookies enable core website functionality, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
Google Analytics cookies help us to understand your experience of the website and do not store any personal data. Click here for a full list of Google Analytics cookies used on this site.
Third-Party cookies are set by our partners and help us to improve your experience of the website. Click here for a full list of third-party plugins used on this site.