Content
Leading article...
Anything up his sleeve?
General tax...
Relaxed association
File under 'e'
Research costs?
Give early
A tax on houses
Pension changes
Holiday entitlement
EISy money
VAT...
20:20 vision
Horses for courses?
Do it yourself
That's entertainment
All in the contract?
Where am I?
Law items...
What's in a title?
The privileged few
Called to account
Don't mince words
| Legal professional privilege is the rule that no-one – not a court, not the police, not the taxman – has the right to demand to see advice given by a lawyer to a client. The client can tell the truth to the lawyer because the lawyer can be trusted not to pass it on. The client's confidence helps the lawyer give the best advice. Two recent cases have shown that privilege is an old-fashioned rule that only applies to limited circumstances. The European Court ruled that advice given by an in-house lawyer working for a company didn't have privilege – it was company information like any other. Only an independent legal adviser qualifies. The Court of Appeal then decided that privilege couldn't apply to advice given by a firm of accountants, even if it was about tax law. The client could get the same advice from solicitors and enjoy privilege – but it was the nature of the firm, not the nature of the work, that protected the information. In these days of Wikileaks, of course, it may simply be safer to assume that nothing is secret and everything you say or write may be held against you...  |