Betfair Pty Limited v Racing New South Wales (No 8) [2009] FCA 1161

Betfair Pty Limited v Racing New South Wales (No 8) [2009] FCA 1161

If a client communicates with their lawyer for the dominant purpose of obtaining legal advice, that communication remains privileged even if it refers to another party's privileged advice; thus the second page of document 24 remains privileged and protected from production.

Parties
Applicant: Betfair Pty Limited; First Respondent: Racing New South Wales; Second Respondent: Harness Racing New South Wales; Intervening: State of New South Wales
Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
12 October 2009
Procedural Posture
Application / Interlocutory Decision on Privilege Objection
Outcome
Ruling in favour of the State's claim of privilege over the relevant document parts; orders varied to exclude those parts from production.
Legal Topics
Legal Professional Privilege, Document Production
Evidence Civil Procedure Legal Professional Privilege Document Production

Case Brief

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Parties

Betfair Pty Limited

Applicant

Racing New South Wales

First Respondent

Harness Racing New South Wales

Second Respondent

State of New South Wales

Intervening

Procedural Posture

Application / Interlocutory Decision on Privilege Objection

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether legal professional privilege attaches to a document where a client's question incorporates a communication over which another person may have privilege

Ratio Decidendi

If a client communicates with their lawyer for the dominant purpose of obtaining legal advice, that communication remains privileged even if it refers to another party's privileged advice; thus the second page of document 24 remains privileged and protected from production.

Court Disposition

Ruling in favour of the State's claim of privilege over the relevant document parts; orders varied to exclude those parts from production.

Orders

  • The orders made on 8 October 2004 are varied by inserting as an item under the heading 'Exhibit CM1' in Order 1: 'Document 24: the parts highlighted pink in Exhibit CM1.'