Legal Privilege Update: Part 1 Of 3

The High Court has recently handed down a number of key decisions on legal privilege. These decisions, which are discussed in our three part update series (see Parts 2 and Part 3), confirm the criteria for sustaining a claim of litigation privilege, together with addressing the maintenance and loss of a claim of litigation privilege in subsequent proceedings. The High Court decision in Quinn & ors v. Irish Bank Resolution Corporation & ors [2018] IEHC 481 also deals with issues of privilege and waiver in the context of disclosure of privileged documents.

Criteria for sustaining a claim of litigation privilege

In Artisan Glass Studio Limited v. The Liffey Trust Limited and others [2018] IEHC 278, the plaintiff challenged the claim of privilege asserted by the second defendant in respect of a record of inspection and a report from its appointed engineers, Burgoynes, Consulting Scientists and Engineers ("Burgoynes").