Accident Investigations: Privileged Or Not?

Two reports are prepared in the aftermath of a fire: one is privileged and does not have to be disclosed to the other side in the ensuing litigation, the other is not. Why?

Scenarios like this often arise, and the usual reason why one report might not be privileged is that it was not prepared for the dominant purpose of apprehended litigation. The recent decision of the High Court in Artisan Glass Studio Ltd v The Liffey Trust Ltd shows how this can happen.

WHAT IS LITIGATION PRIVILEGE?

If a document is protected by litigation privilege, it does not have to be disclosed to the other side in legal proceedings or to the court.

Litigation privilege applies to:

• confidential communications between a lawyer and a client, or between either of them and a third party;