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22 November 2013
Issue: 7585 / Categories: Case law , Law digest , In Court
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Legal professional privilege

Behague v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2013] UKFTT 596 (TC), [2013] All ER (D) 120 (Nov)

A client engagement letter was a contract between the client and solicitor. The solicitor could not (and did not) give legal advice about the contract between himself and his client. In so far as the client engagement letter, therefore, set out the terms of the contract, it could not attract legal professional privilege (LPP) as the lawyer was not giving advice qua lawyer. However, all that depended on what the actual engagement letter said. If it went beyond setting out the terms on which the solicitor would act it might attract LPP at least in part. In particular, it was likely that an engagement letter would specify the particular matter or matters on which the solicitor was contracted to provide legal advice. LPP had to extend not only to the content of the legal advice but the fact that a person sought legal advice on any particular matter. Accordingly, to the extent that an engagement letter set out what the

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gateley Legal—Caroline Pope & Bob Maynard

Gateley Legal—Caroline Pope & Bob Maynard

Construction team bolstered by hire of senior consultant duo

Switalskis—four appointments

Switalskis—four appointments

Firm expands residential conveyancing team with quadruple appointment

mfg Solicitors—Claire Pope

mfg Solicitors—Claire Pope

Private client team welcomes senior associatein Worcester

NEWS
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Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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