Lord Selborne LC said: ‘It is of the highest importance . . that all communications between a solicitor and a client upon a subject which may lead to litigation should be privileged, and I think the court is bound to consider that . . almost any contract entered into between man and man . . may lead to litigation before the contract is completed. Any correspondence passing between the date of the contract which afterwards becomes the subject of litigation and the litigation itself is, in my opinion, on principle, within the privilege extended to the non-production of communications between solicitors and clients . . it is absolutely essential to the interest of mankind that a person should be free to consult his solicitor upon anything which arises out of a contract which may lead to litigation; that the communications should be perfectly free, so that the client may write to the solicitor, and the solicitor to the client, without the slightest apprehension that those communications will be produced if litigation should afterwards arise on the subject to which the correspondence relates.’
Lord Selborne LC spoke about the discretion available under the law of equity, saying that equity sets out to ‘do more perfect and complete justice’ than would be the result of leaving the parties to their remedies at common law.
References: (1872) LR 14 Eq 477, (1874) LR 9 Ch App 279
Judges: Lord Selborne LC
Jurisdiction: England and Wales
This case is cited by:
- Cited – Three Rivers District Council and others v The Governor and Co of the Bank of England (No 6) CA 1-Mar-2004
The Bank of England had sought assistance from its lawyers to prepare for a private non-statutory enquiry. The claimant sought disclosure of that advice. The defendant bank claimed legal professional privilege.
Held: Not all advice given by a . .
([2004] EWCA Civ 218, , Times 03-Mar-04, Gazette 18-Mar-04, [2004] 3 All ER 168, [2004] QB 916, [2004] 2 WLR 1065) - Cited – Co-Operative Insurance Society Ltd v Argyll Stores HL 21-May-1997
The tenants of a unit on a large shopping centre found the business losing money, and closed it in contravention of a ‘keep open’ clause in the lease. They now appealed from a mandatory injunction requiring them to keep the store open.
Held: . .
(Times 26-May-97, , , [1997] UKHL 17, [1997] 2 WLR 898, [1998] AC 1, [1997] All ER 297, [1997] 1 EGLR 52, [1997] CLC 1114, [1997] NPC 79, [1997] EG 81, [1997] 23 EG 141) - Cited – Brennan and others v Sunderland City Council Unison GMB EAT 16-Dec-2008
No Waiver for disclosure of Advice
EAT PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE: Admissibility of evidence
The claimant sought disclosure of certain legal advice on the basis that its effect, and a summary of its contents, had been put before the court and . .
(, [2008] UKEAT 0349 – 08 – 1612, [2009] ICR 479)
These lists may be incomplete.
Last Update: 27 November 2020; Ref: scu.194268
