Commentary on Sections Part 2 – Regulation of Licensed Legal Services Professional practice etc. Section 75 – Professional privilege
161.Legal professional privilege protects the confidentiality of communications between a solicitor and the solicitor’s client that were conducted for the purpose of receiving legal advice, both oral and in writing, and of documents that are created for the main purpose of gathering evidence for use in legal proceedings. This section ensures that the clients of licensed providers have essentially the same legal professional privilege as they would have had if they had instructed a traditional sole practitioner, a law firm, or an incorporated practice. A communication made to or by a licensed provider in its provision of legal services or by a designated person acting in connection with those services and at the direction or under the supervision of a solicitor is to be treated as if it were a communication made by a solicitor for the purposes of disclosure. This reproduces the effect which exists under common law in relation to clients of solicitors and which exists in statute for incorporated practices and registered foreign lawyers in, respectively, sections 33A and 33B of the 1980 Act.