Regular readers of The Insurance Lawyer will have seen our article on recent case law in the arena of legal professional privilege which was published in edition 7.
The Supreme Court have now granted Prudential leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal in Prudential –v- Special Commissioners of Income Tax, which held that legal professional privilege (which applies only to legal advice given by lawyers to their clients) could not be extended to other professions, irrespective of the type of advice given. The Prudential had until 4 May 2011 to decide whether they were going to proceed with the appeal.
At present, the Supreme Court has not confirmed whether the appeal is going ahead. However, on 4 May 2011 the Law Society was granted the right to make representations at the appeal which in itself is indicative that the appeal will now proceed. The Supreme Court has not currently listed a date for the appeal, but the Insurance Lawyer shall endeavor to update our readers on the position as further details are announced.
The contents of this article are intended as guidelines for clients and other readers. It is not a substitute for considered advice on specific issues. Consequently, we cannot accept any responsibility for this information or for any errors or omissions.
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Thomas Eggar LLP is not authorised by the Financial Services Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Services Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity which is broadly the advising on, selling and administering of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints and redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Services Authority website. We can also provide certain further limited investment services to clients if those services are incidental to the professional services we have been engaged to provide as solicitors.
Thesis Asset Management plc, our associated financial services company, provides a comprehensive range of investment services and advice. Thesis is owned by members of Thomas Eggar LLP but is independent of and separate to it. No lawyer connected with Thomas Eggar LLP provides services through Thesis as a practicing lawyer regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Thesis is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Thesis has its own framework of investor protection and professional indemnity cover but Thesis clients do not enjoy the statutory protection of solicitors' clients.