We are delighted to share with you CheckYourLegalPrivilege, CM Murray’s free online interactive tool, designed to help US and UK GCs, in-house counsel and private practice lawyers determine whether a document or communication is likely to be legally privileged or susceptible to disclosure in litigation.
The tool has been specifically devised with busy lawyers in mind, who are navigating the complex English law rules on legal privilege. You can try our new interactive tool, with tailored result based on your answers, here.
Legal professional privilege (“LPP”) can be a deceptively simple concept. It is tempting to apply the “privilege” label where lawyers and confidential information are involved. However the truth is that the application of LPP in practice can be trickier than might first appear.
Once it is established that LPP applies to confidential communications, it gives the privilege holder the exclusive right to withhold those often sensitive communications from third parties – be that a court, an opponent in litigation, the press or the public at large. LPP is therefore a vital weapon in the armoury of individual and corporate clients and their legal advisers.
Using our experience in this area, our experts have developed an innovative and practical online tool to assist you, called CheckYourLegalPrivilege. The tool is designed to help you quickly determine whether legal professional privilege may be asserted, based on a series of specific questions about the individuals involved and the purpose of the documentation. Such as:
- Was the communication or document with, or created for, an external lawyer?
- Are you providing legal advice to an external client?
- Was the relevant communication or document confidential?
- Was adversarial litigation taking place or reasonably contemplated at the time the communication or document was created?
- Was the communication or document created for the dominant purpose of obtaining advice or information, in order to conduct that litigation?
You will then be presented with a conclusion as to whether the document is likely to be privileged or not privileged, based on the information you have provided.
Click here to try out the CheckYourLegalPrivilege online tool, feel free to share with colleagues and friends who may find it helpful. We also welcome any feedback and suggestions as to how we can make this tool even more user-friendly – please do let us know your thoughts!
Please also do get in touch with us if you would like to discuss the particular circumstances of your legal privilege issue, or have any questions arising from this tool: Beth Hale, Partner & GC (Employment & Partnership Law), Wonu Sanda, Senior Associate, (Employment & Partnership Law), Clare Murray, Managing Partner, (Employment & Partnership Law).
Note: Please note that privilege is a complex, nuanced and fact-specific area of law. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this tool, the information is intended as guidance only on the application of legal advice privilege and litigation privilege, and it is not intended to apply to specific circumstances. The content does not, therefore, constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Further, we cannot guarantee that the law has not changed since the time of publication and the user is cautioned accordingly.
If you would like to discuss the particular circumstances of your privilege issue, or any other questions arising from this tool, we would be happy to help.
CheckYourNDA Online Tool
CheckYourLegalPrivilege is the second in CM Murray LLP’s series of online interactive tools, following the recent launch of CheckYourNDA, which is designed to help you check the terms of any non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement to ensure they are appropriate, enforceable and in line with best practice.
