Legal Professional Privilege in the Common Law World
A Guide to Six Major Jurisdictions
2nd Edition
Will be published approx. on 15. September 2026
Book
Hardback
376 pages
978-0-19-896114-7 (ISBN)
Description
Legal professional privilege (LPP) is the protection given to confidential communications between lawyers and their clients in connection with legal advice or litigation and related preparatory materials. Legal Professional Privilege in the Common Law World provides a comprehensive account of LPP-also known as attorney client privilege-in six major common law jurisdictions: England, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States.
Adopting an avowedly comparative approach, the book reflects both the universal importance given to LPP and the extensive challenges faced by common law jurisdictions in developing and applying a privilege that can, at times, be seen to impede effective law enforcement and the administration of justice. Authors Andrew Higgins, Jocelyn Plant, and John Yap aim to provide judges, practitioners, and academics alike with the key case law from each jurisdiction, as well as a practical set of principles to assist them to navigate the surprisingly large number of areas where the law of privilege remains uncertain. Given these grey areas, the book also illustrates how interjurisdictional dialogue features prominently in recent developments in LPP.
Developing from the first edition, Legal Professional Privilege for Corporations, this volume maintains a strong focus on corporate privilege, reflecting the sheer number of disputes involving corporate clients and control over the corporation's privilege material. At the same time, it engages fully with the law as it applies to all clients. Topics given particular attention in this second edition include: shareholder access to the company's privileged material; the scope and operation of waiver; the status of privileged material that has escaped the client's control; choice of law issues in the law of privilege; and the crime-fraud or iniquity exception. The second edition has been updated to add Singapore and Hong Kong as common law jurisdictions under analysis.
Adopting an avowedly comparative approach, the book reflects both the universal importance given to LPP and the extensive challenges faced by common law jurisdictions in developing and applying a privilege that can, at times, be seen to impede effective law enforcement and the administration of justice. Authors Andrew Higgins, Jocelyn Plant, and John Yap aim to provide judges, practitioners, and academics alike with the key case law from each jurisdiction, as well as a practical set of principles to assist them to navigate the surprisingly large number of areas where the law of privilege remains uncertain. Given these grey areas, the book also illustrates how interjurisdictional dialogue features prominently in recent developments in LPP.
Developing from the first edition, Legal Professional Privilege for Corporations, this volume maintains a strong focus on corporate privilege, reflecting the sheer number of disputes involving corporate clients and control over the corporation's privilege material. At the same time, it engages fully with the law as it applies to all clients. Topics given particular attention in this second edition include: shareholder access to the company's privileged material; the scope and operation of waiver; the status of privileged material that has escaped the client's control; choice of law issues in the law of privilege; and the crime-fraud or iniquity exception. The second edition has been updated to add Singapore and Hong Kong as common law jurisdictions under analysis.
More details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 171 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-19-896114-7 (9780198961147)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Andrew Higgins is Professor of Civil Justice Systems at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Mansfield College. He is General Editor of the Civil Justice Quarterly and a past Academic Member of the Civil Justice Council. He is at barrister admitted to practice at both the English and Victorian (Australian) bars.
Jocelyn Plant is currently a pupil barrister at 7 King's Bench Walk, London. She has previously worked as an associate (litigation) at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York, and as a judicial law clerk to Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella at the Supreme Court of Canada and to Justice David Tysoe and Justice John Savage at the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Jocelyn holds a BA, MA, and JD from the University of British Columbia and a BCL (Distinction) from the University of Oxford. She is admitted to the bars of Ontario, New York, and England and Wales.
John Yap practises as a barrister from 3 Verulam Buildings in London. He specialises in commercial litigation and international arbitration. He takes a keen professional and academic interest in Asian jurisdictions. Prior to practising at the Bar, he spent time as a visiting researcher at the National University of Singapore and was a scholar of Des Voeux Chambers in Hong Kong. He holds BA Jurisprudence (First Class, 2nd in Year) and BCL (Distinction) degrees from the University of Oxford.
Jocelyn Plant is currently a pupil barrister at 7 King's Bench Walk, London. She has previously worked as an associate (litigation) at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York, and as a judicial law clerk to Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella at the Supreme Court of Canada and to Justice David Tysoe and Justice John Savage at the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Jocelyn holds a BA, MA, and JD from the University of British Columbia and a BCL (Distinction) from the University of Oxford. She is admitted to the bars of Ontario, New York, and England and Wales.
John Yap practises as a barrister from 3 Verulam Buildings in London. He specialises in commercial litigation and international arbitration. He takes a keen professional and academic interest in Asian jurisdictions. Prior to practising at the Bar, he spent time as a visiting researcher at the National University of Singapore and was a scholar of Des Voeux Chambers in Hong Kong. He holds BA Jurisprudence (First Class, 2nd in Year) and BCL (Distinction) degrees from the University of Oxford.
Content
- 1: INTRODUCTION
- 2: THE EVOLVING RATIONALE FOR LEGAL PROFESSIONAL PRIVILEGE
- 3: THE CORPORATE CLIENT
- 4: THE CLIENT'S LEGAL ADVISERS
- 5: THE CLIENT'S PURPOSE
- 6: CONTROL OF CORPORATE PRIVILEGE
- 7: WAIVER AND LOSS OF CORPORATE PRIVILEGE
- 8: THE CRIME-FRAUD EXCEPTION AND PROCEDURAL ASPECTS OF PRIVILEGE
- 9: RE-EXAMINING THE SCOPE OF PRIVILEGE