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Legal Professional Privilege

Are your confidential communications protected by Legal Professional Privilege?

A reputational crisis will usually result in critically sensitive confidential information being communicated internally within the business and externally with the business’ advisors. Where litigation follows as a result of the crisis the general rule is the business will be required to make these communications available to the other parties to the litigation, irrespective of how damaging they may be to the business.

The doctrine of legal professional privilege can provide an exception to this rule but only where all of the elements of the doctrine are satisfied, including those relating to the purpose, timing, content and distribution of the communication. In addition, the boundaries of legal professional privilege are complex and often misinterpreted.

Therefore an understanding of both the potential benefits and limitations of legal professional privilege is of vital importance to the protection of your business’ most sensitive information.

Fergus Doorly

Partner

Laura Murdock

Partner

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Experience

Reputational challenges can strike any business at any time and the consequences of unsuccessfully dealing with these challenges can be severe and can potentially lead to the total and irreversible destruction of the business’ value. When a reputational crisis does strike management will very often be required to deal with critical reputational issues of which they have no prior experience. We have helped many of our clients prepare for and successfully navigate these challenges and whatever the reputational challenge our clients face we have the skills and experience to help.

The following are examples of our recent work:

Acting for a major financial institution in connection with the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry
Providing advice to various current and former executives of regulated financial institutions in connection with appearances at public hearings of Oireachtas Committees
Advising numerous clients on litigation readiness techniques such as the development and implementation of systems for the preservation and subsequent identification, collation and reproduction of large volumes of sensitive confidential data
Acting for a large professional services firm who suffered substantial financial loss as a result of the fraudulent activities of an employee of a firm engaged by our client to provide property services
Advising various regulated financial service providers on inspections, investigations and enforcement actions by the Central Bank of Ireland
Advising various public companies in connection with investigations by the Takeover Panel
Advising various clients in connection with audits and actions by the Data Protection Commissioner
Establishing and operating a highly confidential internal investigation into alleged criminal staff misconduct on behalf of a global software provider which involved the carrying out of sensitive interviews, the provision of advice in relation to disciplinary actions against senior employees and compliance with statutory law enforcement notification requirements
Advising private clients in connection with two separate cartel investigations by the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (formerly the Competition Authority)
Acting for various clients in relation to defamation proceedings
Acting in the first case to consider the law in Ireland relating to privacy, which is regarded as a seminal decision