Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Legal professional privilege definition

What does Legal professional privilege mean? Legal professional privilege is the protection that keeps confidential lawyer–client communications, and certain related documents, out of disclosure to courts, opponents, regulators and investigators. In practice, it is an umbrella (portmanteau) term for two heads of privilege: legal advice privilege (confidential communications between a lawyer and client for the purpose of giving or receiving legal advice) and litigation privilege (confidential communications with lawyers or third parties, and related documents, created for the dominant purpose of reasonably contemplated or existing litigation). It is a common law doctrine developed in case law (with some statutory recognition in specific contexts), applies...

Criminal legal professional privilege in England and Wales: legal advice and litigation privilege, dominant purpose and reasonable contemplation, internal investigations, interviews, and multi-recipient emails

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note aims to provide some guidance on the core principles of Legal professional privilege (LPP) and how they apply in criminal investigations and prosecutions. For further information and guidance on maintaining LPP for a client during the course of a criminal investigation, see Practice Note: Maintaining privilege during criminal investigations.

What is privilege?

Privilege can be grouped into four primary categories in law:

legal professional privilege
common/joint interest privilege (though, strictly, this sits within legal professional privilege)
Without Prejudice privilege
privilege against self-incrimination

This Practice Note deals solely with LPP within a criminal context. For more general information concerning legal professional privilege, see Practice Note: Legal professional privilege in civil proceedings. For information on other types of privilege, refer to Practice Notes: Privilege—joint and Common interest privilege, Privilege—solicitor and client confidence, Privilege against self-incrimination and Without prejudice communications.

Legal professional privilege (LPP)

LPP is recognised by the courts as a fundamental right...

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Sophie Tang

Kingsley Napley

Sophie Tang is an associate in the criminal litigation team at Kingsley Napley. She joined Kingsley Napley in 2024, after working as a Senior Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service and an Associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Sophie acts on a wide range of white collar and general crime cases. She acts for suspects and witnesses in respect of investigations into fraud, bribery and corruption and cartels. She advises both corporates and individuals in internal investigations, regulatory investigations (brought by the SFO, CMA and CPS) and litigation. Sophie has a particular interest in the international dimension of criminal cases and has advised on multijurisdictional investigations and litigation. Sophie advises on all areas of general crime. She has particular expertise in defending suspects and defendants accused of rape and serious sexual offences, having prosecuted in the CPS’s specialist RASSO unit. Sophie used to...

Will Hayes

Kingsley Napley

Will is a barrister with a range of experience in general and white collar crime. He joined Kingsley Napley in 2017. Will was called to the Bar in 2013 and completed pupillage at a leading criminal set, where he represented clients in a range of hearings and trials in the magistrates' court, crown court and youth court. His experience covers the full spectrum of general crime, from road traffic matters and drug offences, to allegations of violence and dishonesty and prosecutions for sexual offences, often involving vulnerable clients. Will also has experience of financial and serious and complex crime, including working as part of the defence teams for Rebekah and Charlie Brooks in the phone-hacking trial and for a broker prosecuted by the SFO for allegedly conspiring to manipulate LIBOR. Prior to joining Kingsley Napley, Will was instructed as independent counsel by the Serious Fraud...

Antonia Szapary

Associate, Corker Binning

Antonia qualified as a solicitor in September 2025 and joined Corker Binning as an Associate. Antonia began her training in the Regulatory team, assisting on disciplinary and fitness-to-practise matters involving legal, medical, and teaching professionals. In Dispute Resolution, she worked on a broad range of commercial disputes including contentious trusts, tax, arbitration, reputation management, and civil fraud, with a focus on crypto-related issues. During her Criminal Litigation seat, she supported cases involving criminal defence, white collar and financial crime, extradition, and internal investigations. She is currently completing her final seat in Family, assisting with financial and child arrangements following divorce, as well as advising on pre-nuptial agreements....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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