Maintaining legal professional privilege in criminal and internal investigations: practitioner checklist on legal advice and litigation privilege, confidentiality, document handling, third-party communications, regulatory requests and dawn raids

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Checklists

These are indicative pointers only, as each criminal investigation will depend on its particular facts. This checklist should be read alongside Practice Notes: Legal Professional Privilege in criminal proceedings and Maintaining privilege during criminal investigations. Confidentiality is paramount and must be preserved. If a document or communication was not confidential when created, or later ceases to be confidential, it will generally not benefit from Legal Professional Privilege (LPP). To assert privilege, consider carefully whether you rely on legal advice privilege or litigation privilege, as different factors apply to each...

Steps to maintain legal professional privilege

At the outset

If the client seeks advice before a criminal investigation begins:

Legal advice privilege

Assess whether legal advice privilege applies, namely:
- is the communication confidential? (If yes)
- is the communication between a lawyer and their client, in either direction? (If yes)
- is the dominant purpose to give or obtain legal advice?...

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Áine Kervick

Kingsley Napley

Áine Kervick is an associate in the criminal litigation team and acts on a wide range of white collar and general criminal cases. She joined Kingsley Napley in 2014 and qualified as a solicitor in 2016. She currently acts for suspects and witnesses in respect of investigations brought by the SFO, CMA and DoJ in relation to bribery and corruption and cartel investigations. She was part of the team working on the LIBOR II trial which involved allegations of a conspiracy to manipulate the LIBOR rate in which the client was acquitted after a trial lasting nearly 4 months. Áine has a particular interest in the international dimension of criminal cases and advises individuals in respect of extradition requests. She is also experienced in acting for individuals in internal investigations with a focus on legal professional privilege in criminal...

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...

Web page updated on 20/05/2026

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