United Kingdom: Disclosure & Electronic Discovery & Privilege

Northern Ireland's Assembly has passed legislation establishing a Truth Recovery Public Inquiry into Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses operating between 1922 and 1995. The inquiry faces the complex challenge of building upon extensive prior research while navigating questions of scope, evidence handling, and balancing trauma-informed procedures with legal fairness requirements.

When beneficiaries request trust-related documents from trustees, a complex balancing act emerges between accountability and confidentiality. This analysis examines the legal framework governing disclosure obligations, exploring how courts weigh beneficiaries' rights to information against the need to protect sensitive settlor wishes and discretionary decision-making processes.

A detailed analysis of the recent Prince Harry privacy claim judgment reveals crucial insights into how courts evaluate allegations of wrongdoing when direct evidence is limited. The case demonstrates the high evidential burden required to prove serious allegations through inference, the importance of proper witness statement procedures, and the severe cost consequences of pursuing speculative claims based on insufficient evidence.

When a Moscow arbitration threatened to drain assets protected by an English court undertaking, the High Court ordered disclosure of confidential arbitration materials. This November 2025 decision examines when arbitral confidentiality must yield to asset protection, and what it means for parties navigating parallel proceedings across jurisdictions.

The High Court's decision in White v Uber London Ltd has sent shockwaves through the litigation funding industry by ruling that communications between litigation funders and solicitors regarding funding decisions are not protected by litigation privilege. This judgment challenges the widely-held market assumption that such correspondence enjoys privilege protection, potentially making litigants more cautious about approaching funders and requiring parties to be more deliberate about what they include in ear

A client facing historic rape allegations was spared prosecution after detailed legal representations highlighted digital communications that contradicted the complainant's account.

Welcome to the Spring 2026 edition of our biannual Banking Litigation Update, in which we highlight the most important cases and developments affecting UK financial institutions over the past six months.

On 16 April 2026, the UK High Court (Mr Justice Picken) in Aabar Holdings S.À.R.L. & Ors v Glencore PLC & Ors adopted a wide view of legal advice privilege in favour of the first Defendant, holding that internal...

The Upper Tribunal has ruled that the Cabinet Office could refuse to confirm or deny whether Boris Johnson sought legal advice on the lawfulness of the March 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, finding that such confirmation would itself reveal privileged information. This decision clarifies an important boundary in legal advice privilege: while the mere fact of obtaining legal advice is not privileged, seeking advice on a sufficiently specific topic can attract privilege protection.