Amongst the cases shortlisted for ‘Most Important Court Case of the Year’ includes ‘Director of the Serious Fraud Office v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited’ - a case which the Law Society successfully intervened in the proceedings and helped to achieve a vitally important outcome – expanding the scope of litigation privilege and protecting legal professional privilege generally.

The Law Society was represented by Eoin O'Shea of Reed Smith, instructing Dinah Rose QC and David Pievsky of Blackstone Chambers.

Eoin, who is also the Chairman of the City of London Law Society Corporate Crime Committee, said: “It’s right that this case is considered one of the most important of 2018. I would go further and say it is one of the most important in many years as regards the efficacy of white collar crime investigations and even access to justice.  The judgment highlighted that the law of privilege is essential to justice and has made clear that the law took a wrong turning in 2003 via the Three Rivers decision.

“The Court of Appeal’s judgment, and the fact that the SFO has abandoned a further appeal, now means that privilege in general is much better established, that litigation privilege is significantly extended and that prosecutorial discretion as regards the treatment of defendants in the “white collar” sphere is subject to proper limits.”