"Specific areas of specialism include… niche areas such as privilege."
The Legal 500
Fountain Court is home to some of the best-known barristers in this niche and intricate area.
Our experience of privilege law is particularly renowned, with many members contributing to the leading text, The Law of Privilege, edited by Fountain Court’s Bankim Thanki KC, as well as privilege chapters in other publications. We have acted on most of the leading cases in this area, including those which established new precedents, covering legal advice privilege, litigation privilege and without prejudice privilege.
Fountain Court has been predominant in this sphere for many years. For example, a number of our members were involved in the extremely significant Three Rivers litigation (resulting from the collapse of BCCI) from which the leading House of Lords authority on the scope of legal advice privilege (“Three Rivers (No.6)”) derives. In more recent years, we have appeared in leading Supreme Court and Court of Appeal cases on all aspects of privilege (for example, R (Prudential plc) v Special Commissioner of Income Tax, SFO v ENRC, R (on the application of Jet2.com Ltd) v CAA and Sports Direct International v Financial Reporting Council).
Our members also advise clients on various issues relating to confidentiality and conflicts of interest including in the context of the relationship between clients and their professional advisors and in the arbitration field regarding the obligations of arbitrators.
We often advise on privilege, confidentiality and conflicts of interest issues in the context of wider disputes including in the professional negligence or disciplinary context, such as claims involving legal professionals. We also regularly advise in the context of regulatory investigations including those involving criminal allegations, calling upon our extensive experience in the field of commercial crime.
Our work includes cases relating to:
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Contact our clerks
For more information on our experience or to discuss a particular case, please contact us.
Call: +44 (0)207 583 3335
Email: clerks@fountaincourt.co.uk
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