Blog
Kingsley Napley’s Medical Negligence Team ‘walks together’ with the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
Sharon Burkill
4 March 2019
SFO v ENRC: what did the Court of Appeal decide and what does it mean for lawyers?
In September 2018, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment on ENRC’s appeal against Andrews J’s High Court decision in the case of The Director of the Serious Fraud Office v ENRC. The judgment has been praised for going some way to restore sense and order to the protection of legal professional privilege.
15 January 2019
Tackling illicit finance: lawyers under the spotlight
At the end of last year the National Crime Agency published its annual report on Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for 2018. Media reporting (such as in the FT, subscription required), on the annual report has focussed, amongst other things, on the relatively small proportion of SARs made by lawyers. Is this a fair criticism and, if so, what is the reason for it?
19 July 2018
The SFO’s privilege battles reaches the Court of Appeal
ENRC’s highly anticipated challenge to Andrews J’s High Court decision in the case of SFO v ENRC was recently heard over three days in the Court of Appeal.
19 February 2018
Litigation privilege: the Court of Appeal endorses ENRC
In another recent case relating to the circumstances required to successfully establish a claim to litigation privilege (see Philip Salvesen’s blog on the case of Bilta & Ors v RBS & Anor [2017] EWHC 3535 (Ch), the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) has followed the approach adopted in SFO v ENRC [2017] 1 WLR 4205 in ruling that a statement made by an employee to his company’s solicitors as part of their investigation into a death at work was not covered by privilege.
27 November 2017
Inferring Advice: A helpful clarification on the extent of privilege
The recent case of Edwardian Group Ltd v Singh [2017] EWHC 2805 (Ch)(“Edwardian Group”) has clarified the extent to which privilege can be claimed over documents in which legal advice is not explicitly stated but can be inferred. At a time when a string of recent authorities have appeared to limit the scope of privilege (Director of the SFO v ENRC [2017] EWHC 1017 and RBS Rights Issue in particular), it is reassuring to see a decision which reinforces the fundamental protection provided by privilege and offers assistance to a party wishing to assert a claim.