Dawson-Damer & Ors v Taylor Wessing LLP & Ors [2015] EWHC 2366 (Ch) (06 August 2015)

Dawson-Damer & Ors v Taylor Wessing LLP & Ors [2015] EWHC 2366 (Ch) (06 August 2015)

Taylor Wessing LLP is not required to comply with the subject access requests because the majority of documents are covered by legal professional privilege as defined by Bahamian law, and it is neither reasonable nor proportionate to require a search to distinguish privileged from non-privileged documents. The real purpose of the requests was to obtain information for Bahamian litigation, which is not a proper use of the Data Protection Act subject access provisions.

Citation
[2015] EWHC 2366 (Ch)
Parties
Claimant: Ashley Judith Dawson-Damer; Claimant: Piers Dawson-Damer; Claimant: Adelicia Dawson-Damer; Defendant: Taylor Wessing LLP; Defendant: Michael Morrison; Defendant: James Burns
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
06 August 2015
Procedural Posture
Application Under Section 7(9) of the Data Protection Act 1998 / Judgment on Application
Outcome
Application dismissed
Legal Topics
Subject Access Requests, Legal Professional Privilege, Trustee Beneficiary Disclosure, Relevant Filing System, Discretion Under Data Protection Act
Data Protection Trusts and Equity Subject Access Requests Legal Professional Privilege Trustee Beneficiary Disclosure Relevant Filing System Discretion Under Data Protection Act

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Parties

Ashley Judith Dawson-Damer

Claimant

Piers Dawson-Damer

Claimant

Adelicia Dawson-Damer

Claimant

Taylor Wessing LLP

Defendant

Michael Morrison

Defendant

James Burns

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Application Under Section 7(9) of the Data Protection Act 1998 / Judgment on Application

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether Taylor Wessing LLP is required to comply with subject access requests under the Data Protection Act 1998 given claims of legal professional privilege and the nature of its filing systems; Whether the privilege extends to Bahamian law and trust law principles; Whether it is reasonable and proportionate to require Taylor Wessing LLP to conduct searches for non-privileged data; Whether the court should exercise its discretion to order compliance with the requests

Ratio Decidendi

Taylor Wessing LLP is not required to comply with the subject access requests because the majority of documents are covered by legal professional privilege as defined by Bahamian law, and it is neither reasonable nor proportionate to require a search to distinguish privileged from non-privileged documents. The real purpose of the requests was to obtain information for Bahamian litigation, which is not a proper use of the Data Protection Act subject access provisions.

Court Disposition

Application dismissed