Irish Court Applies "Unambiguous Impropriety" Exception To Privileged Correspondence

In QPQ Limited v Schute [2025] IEHC 474, the High Court (Court) considered the defendant's application to admit into evidence certain correspondence exchanged between the parties' solicitors.

After careful consideration, the Court ruled that the letters marked "without prejudice save as to costs" were admissible, finding that they contained an implicit threat amounting to "unambiguous impropriety".

Background to the Commercial Dispute

The plaintiff, QPQ Limited (QPQ), initiated proceedings (Proceedings) before the Court in 2024, alleging that the defendant, Mr Schute, had breached a shareholders' agreement and infringed intellectual property rights by establishing a competing Swiss company that utilised the plaintiff's intellectual property. Mr Schute was also accused of reneging on a funding commitment and soliciting key members of QPQ's research and development team. QPQ claimed a loss in enterprise value of €106m, which the defendant denied.