A landmark ruling has highlighted the dangers of a common misconception that the in-house legal team at every construction firm should bear in mind when conducting an internal investigation. 

On 5 September the Court of Appeal handed down a much-anticipated ruling determining whether in-house lawyers are covered by legal privilege – which protects confidential communications between lawyers and other advisers and their clients when giving or obtaining legal advice. The case – Director of the Serious Fraud Office vs Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation  – related to documents prepared by mining firm ENRC’s lawyers during an internal probe into allegations of fraud and corruption, levied against the company by a whistleblower. The ruling means the Serious Fraud Office could not access the documents or use them as evidence during its formal investigation into possible offences committed by ENRC under the Bribery Act 2010. 

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