Lam v The Commissioner, Australian Federal Police & Ors [1995] FCA 738

Legal professional privilege is attached only to those documents identified by the Court that were communications for the purpose of obtaining legal advice regarding anticipated legal proceedings; privilege does not attach to documents related primarily to accountancy services.

Jurisdiction: Australia
Judgment Date: 14 July 1995
Procedural Posture: Application for Injunction and Declaration / Judgment and Orders
Outcome: Privilege attached to specific documents; some documents released to applicant, others to first respondent; injunction varied.
Legal Topics: ['legal Professional Privilege' 'documents Seized Under Search Warrant' 'injunction Restraining Use of Seized Documents']

['administrative Law'] ['legal Professional Privilege' 'documents Seized Under Search Warrant' 'injunction Restraining Use of Seized Documents']

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Procedural Posture

Application for Injunction and Declaration / Judgment and Orders

Legal Issues

1 ['Whether legal professional privilege attaches to documents seized under a search warrant' 'Whether certain documents are privileged and should be released to the applicant']

Ratio Decidendi

Court Disposition

Privilege attached to specific documents; some documents released to applicant, others to first respondent; injunction varied.

Orders

["Legal professional privilege is attached to those documents so identified by the Court in the 'A' and 'B' documents. The applicant has liberty to uplift those documents." "The balance of the documents held in Court other than the document described as 'HD Compact Disk 3.5' in the 'B' documents to be released to...