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United Kingdom
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In-house lawyer definition What does In-house lawyer mean? An in-house lawyer is a lawyer employed by an organisation (company, charity, public authority or group company) to provide legal advice and services to that employer, rather than to the public or external clients. In common UK and Irish usage it is a descriptive term; detailed practising rules are set by the relevant professional regulator rather than by a single statutory definition. In England and Wales, an in-house solicitor practises for a non‑authorised person (not a law firm or ABS regulated by an Approved Regulator). They must hold a practising certificate, may carry on reserved legal activities only for...
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Legal Professional Privilege for In-house Lawyers (England and Wales): practical steps, client definition, document controls, meeting minutes, auditors, litigation privilege, regulators, crises and resisting pressure, with SRA guidance
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Practice notes
legal professional privilege (LPP) safeguards the privacy of spoken and written exchanges between solicitors and their clients. It allows a party to resist disclosure of material to a third party or the court—see Practice Note: Legal professional privilege for in-house lawyers.
Explaining LPP to your colleagues
You must be able to explain precisely what privilege means to your colleagues. Be careful about the language you choose to use. Keep messages clear and avoid jargon—it can be preferable not to use the phrase 'legal privilege' at all when speaking with colleagues.
Set out clearly how privilege operates in practice and what is required. Explain that LPP shields the organisation’s confidential legal advice and communications from third parties, including regulators and competitors. To protect such material, keep it confidential and share it only with defined individuals.
It is the responsibility of all employees to protect the organisation’s privilege. Staff should not presume that dealings with the in-house legal team will be covered by legal privilege.
Moreover, simply writing ‘legally privileged’, or similar, on a document will not make it privileged, and may actually harm the protection by weakening an assertion of privilege over documents that ought to be protected. Likewise, simply asserting...
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Web page updated on 21/05/2026
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