The Supreme Court has granted financial services company Prudential leave to appeal in a Court of Appeal case that had confirmed that legal professional privilege (LPP) can only apply to qualified solicitors and barristers.

If Prudential chooses to go ahead with the appeal, a reversal of the Court of Appeal decision could see LPP awarded to accountants in some circumstances.

Law Society President Linda Lee said: ‘LPP is a fundamental right, long established in common law.

'It is a necessary corollary of the right of any person to obtain skilled advice about the law. It is a right that belongs to the client and one that lawyers will protect on their behalf.

‘The Society will intervene to ensure that the scope of LPP remains clear and certain, so that it remains an important safeguard for clients who seek and obtain legal advice.’

Prudential has until 4 May 2011 to confirm that it will proceed with the appeal. At that stage the Society will make its formal application to the Supreme Court to intervene in the proceedings.

In the Court of Appeal judgment given in October 2010, the court emphasised that extending LPP communications to other professionals, such as accountants, was a matter for parliament, not for the courts.

The court noted that parliament had considered the matter several times over the past 40 years and that failure to change the law in this respect ‘is not an accident’.