In this week’s NLJ, Lois Horne, disputes partner at Mcfarlanes and a London Solicitor Litigation Association (LSLA) Committee Member, takes a detailed look at the G4S judgment. She explains the practical importance of the principle, given the rise of shareholder activism and shareholder claims, and why there are doubts about its basis and scope.
The shareholder principle, as Horne explains, is ‘the principle that a company cannot assert privilege against its shareholders, except where the documents came into existence in contemplation of proceedings between the company and its shareholders’.
Horne notes the judge in G4S ‘was clearly struck by the absence of detailed consideration of the shareholder principle in previous cases’. However, some may also argue the principle is long-established. Horne highlights that practical difficulties may result and that the current rules are ‘problematic’.
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