Ruling in the case, Mr Justice Snowden said: ‘The public interest will be advanced if the regulators can deal with experienced lawyers who can accurately advise their clients how to respond and co-operate. Such lawyers must be able to give their client candid factual briefings as well as legal advice, secure in the knowledge that any such communications and any record of their discussions and the decisions taken will not subsequently be disclosed without the client’s consent.’ He added that the high-level documents in question ‘fall squarely within that policy’.

Limit of legal privilege

The debate over the documents revolved around the extent of legal privilege. Mr Justice Snowden agreed that if a solicitor advises clients on all matters of business, the advice may lack the relevant legal context to be considered privileged. But he added that Clifford Chance was providing those services as an ‘integral part of their provision of legal advice and assistance’. Source: The Law Society Gazette