Understanding legal privilege before disclosing
Launch library · evergreen read
Legal privilege protects certain communications, most commonly those between a client and their lawyer, from being disclosed even during a formal investigation or legal proceeding. Understanding this protection matters before making a disclosure, since it shapes what a whistleblower can and cannot safely share about legal advice they may have received.
Privilege generally belongs to the client rather than the lawyer, which means an organisation can usually choose whether to waive it, while an individual employee typically cannot waive privilege that belongs to their employer even if they personally received the advice in question. That distinction often surprises people raising a concern for the first time.
A whistleblower unsure whether particular material is privileged is usually better served seeking independent legal advice before disclosing it, rather than guessing, since disclosing genuinely privileged material can create separate legal complications entirely apart from the underlying concern being reported. Getting this step right protects both the disclosure and the discloser.