WH Holding Ltd & Anor v E20 Stadium LLP

WH Holding Ltd & Anor v E20 Stadium LLP

Litigation privilege does not extend to purely commercial settlement discussions unless they are for the dominant purpose of obtaining information or advice for conducting litigation; the court's power to inspect documents claimed as privileged is discretionary and not limited to cases where there is reasonable certainty of misapplication; internal corporate communications are not privileged unless they meet the dominant purpose test.

Parties
Appellant: WH Holding Limited; Appellant: West Ham United Football Club Limited; Respondent: E20 Stadium LLP
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
30 November 2018
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal / Court of Appeal Judgment
Outcome
Appeal allowed
Legal Topics
Litigation Privilege, Document Inspection, Dominant Purpose Test
Civil Procedure Evidence Litigation Privilege Document Inspection Dominant Purpose Test

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

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Parties

WH Holding Limited

Appellant

West Ham United Football Club Limited

Appellant

E20 Stadium LLP

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Civil Appeal / Court of Appeal Judgment

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Scope of litigation privilege
  2. 2 Grounds for court inspection of documents when privilege is challenged
  3. 3 Application of dominant purpose test for privilege

Ratio Decidendi

Litigation privilege does not extend to purely commercial settlement discussions unless they are for the dominant purpose of obtaining information or advice for conducting litigation; the court's power to inspect documents claimed as privileged is discretionary and not limited to cases where there is reasonable certainty of misapplication; internal corporate communications are not privileged unless they meet the dominant purpose test.

Court Disposition

Appeal allowed

Orders

  • Disclosure of the Disputed Documents ordered
  • Judge's test of 'reasonable certainty' for inspection rejected