In Queensland, an in-house 'legal counsel' who is not admitted to practise as a barrister or solicitor cannot attract legal professional privilege to communications. Where a report is commissioned for multiple purposes, the relevant time for assessing dominant purpose is the time of the document's production, and a change in purpose before production (from investigative to legal advice) can result in the report attracting privilege. A mere possibility of litigation is insufficient to support litigation privilege, even under the dominant purpose test.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 11 later cases that cite this judgment.
1 of the 11 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.