Levy v Bablis

In the matter of *Levy v Bablis*, the appellant, Mr Levy, sought leave to adduce fresh and further evidence on appeal, specifically concerning documents produced pursuant to a subpoena. The core of the dispute revolved around whether certain documents, copies of which had been submitted to legal advisers for the purpose of obtaining legal advice, were protected by legal professional privilege.

The primary legal issue before the court was to determine the validity of the claim for legal professional privilege over the subpoenaed documents. This involved considering whether the act of providing copies of documents to legal advisers for the purpose of seeking advice rendered those copies privileged, and conversely, whether the originals of those documents, which were not themselves submitted for advice, were subject to privilege. The court also had to consider the potential for waiver of privilege.

Beazley JA reasoned that copies of documents submitted to legal advisers for the purpose of obtaining legal advice are indeed privileged. However, the court distinguished this from the originals of those documents, which, if not themselves provided for the purpose of obtaining advice, would not attract privilege. The court found that privilege was upheld in respect of the documents produced pursuant to the subpoena.

Consequently, the court ordered that the appellant, Mr Levy, not have access to the documents in question, thereby upholding the claim for privilege.