On 11 July 2017, Ben Bury and Ervin Tan from Jones Day gave a presentation to more than 40 SCL (S) members and non-members on legal professional privilege. The presentation was chaired by Bree Miechel from Simmons & Simmons.

The purpose of the talk was to explore the various ways in which a party to a construction dispute (either in the courts or arbitration) might lawfully refuse to comply with procedural rules to disclose documents they have in their possession which may be harmful to their case. The presenters also discussed the ways in which privilege can be "lost". This describes a situation where a party was entitled to lawfully refuse to disclose documents, but due to their actions they are now no longer able to do so.

Legal professional privilege and the ways in which privilege can be "lost" are hot topics in common law jurisdictions at the moment. There have been a number of recent decisions by the courts in England and Wales clarifying when a party can and cannot refuse to disclose documents. In addition, the Law Society of England and Wales published a practice note on legal professional privilege on 23 February 2017 following public statements by the UK's Serious Fraud Office regarding privilege in the context of regulatory investigations. The presentation was an interactive session with a number of participants asking questions.

Click HERE to view event photos.

Contributed by:

Ben Bury, Jones Day