April 2024 Business Litigation Report

Privilege Under English Law – the Lay of the Land following Al Sadeq v Dechert LLP

Introduction

Legal professional privilege is a longstanding and fundamental principle of English law, and yet it finds itself before the Courts with such frequency that it is also one that is continually evolving.

Most recently, on 24 January 2024, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales handed down its judgment in Al Sadeq v Dechert LLP and Others [2024] EWCA Civ 28. That decision considers a number of key aspects of the English law position on legal professional privilege, which will usually arise in the following two circumstances: 

• Legal advice privilege that applies to "communications between a lawyer and its client for the sole or dominant purpose of giving or receiving legal advice, and documents which would reveal the contents of such communications"; and