Confidential information—knowledge of unlawfulness not required for unlawful means conspiracy (The Racing Partnership Ltd v Sports Information Services Ltd) – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted November 12th, 2020 in confidentiality, horse racing, news, unlawful means conspiracy by sally

‘Practitioners acting in the more challenging cases of conspiracies involving the misuse of confidential information or otherwise interested in the history and development of tort (outside the tort of negligence) will find this case compelling and essential reading.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 26th October 2020

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

Woman jailed after forging court order in bid to obtain medical records of relative subject to Court of Protection proceedings – Local Government Lawyer

‘A woman has been sentenced to an immediate term of imprisonment of 12 months after a High Court judge found she had forged a purported court order and sent it to an NHS trust with the intention of obtaining the medical confidential records of a relative, despite the court refusing to direct this.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 5th October 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Disclosure of information to GP: not “data” under GDPR – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted August 13th, 2020 in charities, confidentiality, consent, disclosure, medical records, news, vetting by sally

‘The High Court has struck out a claim that the disclosure of certain personal information made by a charity to the claimant’s GP was unlawful. Although only summary, this judgment goes to the heart of what we believe data protection to be about. As you will tell from my somewhat trenchant comments at the end of this post, I find it difficult to accept the main conclusion in this ruling.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, August 2020

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Contempt of Court – Centek Holdings v Giles – NIPC Law

‘A case that shows how the committal procedure works is Centek Holdings Ltd. and others v Giles EWHC 1682 (Ch) (26 June 2020). For over 17 years Mr Trustram Files has been the claimant companies’ product development manager. In August 2019 Mr Giles left the claimants to take up a job in Malaysia. He took with him what was described as “very substantial amounts of confidential and proprietary material” belonging to his employer. His bosses suspected what he was doing and contained an order (“the Order”) from Mr Jystice Norris “not to use, access or distribute Centek Material (paragraph 2 of the Order), abide by specific restrictive covenants (paragraph 3 of the Order), disclose and preserve Centek Material and the “Devices” and “Accounts” on which it was kept (paragraphs 4 and 5(a)-(b) of the Order), preserve disclosable documents (paragraph 5(f) of the Order) and facilitate the imaging of such Devices and Accounts by “Independent Experts” (paragraph 6 of the Order).”‘

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NIPC Law, 7th July 2020

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.com

Quality of legal advice for suspects “faltering under lockdown” – Legal Futures

‘The quality of legal help for suspects in police custody has “suffered significantly” due to Covid-19 amid concerns over confidentiality and restrictions on lawyers talking to clients, a new report has found.’

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Legal Futures, 30th June 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Machine Learning in Healthcare: Regulating Transparency – UK Human Rights Blog

‘PHG, linked with Cambridge University, provides independent advice and evaluations of biomedical and digital innovations in healthcare. PHG has recently published a series of reports exploring the interpretability of machine learning in this context. The one I will focus on in this post is the report considering the requirements of the GDPR for machine learning in healthcare and medical research by way of transparency, interpretability, or explanation. Links to the other reports are given at the end of this post.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 18th June 2020

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Knowledge test for duty of confidence – what is a sufficient state of mind to make an employer liable for breach of confidence when it receives a client list from a recruited employee? – Employment Blog

Posted June 11th, 2020 in confidentiality, contract of employment, EC law, employment, news by sally

‘In the recent case of Trailfinders v Travel Counsellors & Ors [2020] EWHC 591 (IPEC) the court reiterated that the test was not subjective: the recipient of the client list did not have to know the information was confidential. It was objective: in equity the recipient is under a duty of confidence whenever he ought to know that the information received is fairly and reasonably to be regarded as confidential, irrespective of his actual state of mind. Further, this was now also the statutory position because under Art. 4 (4) of Directive (EU) 2016/943 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition: “The acquisition, use or disclosure of a trade secret shall also be considered unlawful whenever a person, at the time of the acquisition, use or disclosure, knew or ought, under the circumstances, to have known that the trade secret had been obtained directly or indirectly from another person who was using or disclosing the trade secret unlawfully within the meaning of paragraph 3.”’

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Employment Blog, 9th June 2020

Source: employment11kbw.com

High Court rules employer had to pay settlement even after ex-employee breached confidentiality clause – Duchy Farm Kennels Ltd v Steels [2020] EWHC 1208 (QB) – 3PB

Posted June 4th, 2020 in confidentiality, dispute resolution, employment tribunals, news by sally

‘In Duchy Farm Kennels Ltd v Steels [2020] EWHC 1208 (QB), the High Court addressed the consequences of a party breaching the confidentiality clause in a COT3 settlement, noting that the issue of law arising regarding the status of the clause had not been the subject of a previous appellate ruling.’

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3PB, 2nd June 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Can you sack your opponent’s solicitor? You can try… Glencairn IP Holdings Ltd v Product Specialities Inc (t/a ‘Final Touch’) [2020] EWCA Civ 609 – Hailsham Chambers

Posted May 26th, 2020 in chambers articles, confidentiality, disclosure, law firms, news, solicitors by sally

‘It is well established that a litigant may restrain his former solicitors from acting for his opponent where: (i) those former solicitors are in possession of relevant, adverse confidential information and (ii) there is even a slight risk of that information being disclosed (Bolkiah v KPMG).1 But the issue in Glencairn, was whether a litigant could prevent solicitors from acting for his current opponent because that firm had acted for a former opponent in similar litigation which was settled on confidential terms. Did the solicitors’ knowledge of the applicant’s confidential settlement strategy in similar litigation (against a different party) give an unfair advantage which meant the solicitors should be prohibited from acting?’

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Hailsham Chambers, 13th May 2020

Source: www.hailshamchambers.com

High Court rules on the effect of confidentiality clause in a settlement agreement – St Ives Chambers

Posted May 18th, 2020 in appeals, chambers articles, confidentiality, contracts, damages, employment, news by sally

‘In Duchy Farm Kennels Limited v Steels [2020] EWHC 1208 (QB) Alexander PritchardJones appeared in an important case about the effect of breaches of confidentiality clauses contained within settlement agreements.’

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St Ives Chambers, 14th May 2020

Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk

Solicitor cleared over alleged confidentiality breach – Legal Futures

Posted May 12th, 2020 in confidentiality, disciplinary procedures, news, solicitors by sally

‘A solicitor accused of disclosing to a client confidential information about a former client has been cleared of wrongdoing by a disciplinary tribunal.’

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Legal Futures, 11th May 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Scott v LGBT Foundation Ltd: When Dealing with Personal Information Falls Outside the Data Protection Regime – The 36 Group

‘In Scott v LGBT Foundation Ltd [2020] EWHC 483 (QB) the High Court held that “a verbal disclosure does not constitute the processing of personal data” under the Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA 1998”).’

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The 36 Group, 5th May 2020

Source: 36group.co.uk

Children seeing parents “distressed” by remote hearings – Legal Futures

‘Children are “coming in and out of the room” during remote family law hearings and in some cases witnessing their “distressed” parents, a major study has found.’

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Legal Futures, 7th May 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Working from Home during COVID-19 – Thomas More Chambers

‘During these unprecedented times, working from home on a full-time basis has become the ‘new normal’. This is in stark contrast to before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began, when out of 32.6 million people in employment, only 1.7 million regularly worked from home. The change to enforced homeworking was swift and represented significant changes to the lifestyle and routines of both employers and employees, which, in turn, creates a number of legal and practical issues for employers. It is currently unknown how long homeworking will last for, or indeed if the outbreak of COVID-19 will cause a shift towards homeworking on a permanent basis.’

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Thomas More Chambers, 30th April 2020

Source: www.thomasmore.co.uk

Anger as watchdog clears Alzheimer’s Society of wrongdoing – The Guardian

‘The charity watchdog is embroiled in a row with ex-employees of the Alzheimer’s Society after clearing it of wrongdoing, following claims in a Guardian investigation over payouts to workers who signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).’

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The Guardian, 4th May 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Solicitor’s Duty When Redacting Documents: Infederation Ltd v Google LLC [2020] EWHC 657 (Ch) – Blackstone Chambers

Posted April 24th, 2020 in chambers articles, confidentiality, disclosure, documents, news, solicitors by sally

‘It is often the case that documents that must be disclosed in proceedings contain confidential information. Clients are understandably concerned to take all appropriate steps to safeguard the confidentiality of disclosed documents. This is particularly the case where the purpose of the proceedings is the protection of confidential information, such as the enforcement of a non-compete restrictive covenant or duty of confidence. The courts have recognised a number of legitimate techniques to limit the disclosure of confidential information in such circumstances. These include confidentiality rings and the redaction of documents. Both were considered in the recent case of Infederation v Google in which the High Court gave important guidance to solicitors in their approach to redaction of documents on grounds of confidentiality.’

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Blackstone Chambers, 21st April 2020

Source: www.employeecompetition.com

Health Records and the Deceased – Panopticon

Posted April 23rd, 2020 in bereavement, confidentiality, data protection, families, medical records, news by sally

‘The Access to Health Records Act 1990 is an oft-overlooked member of the information rights family, but it can have a useful role to play. In the case of Re AB [2020] EWHC 691 (Fam) (Re AB) it was important because the applicant was the personal representative seeking the health records of a deceased sibling; precisely the sort of territory to which data protection law does not apply.’

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Panopticon, 23rd April 2020

Source: panopticonblog.com

High Court: Experts owe clients “fiduciary duty of loyalty” – Litigation Futures

Posted April 16th, 2020 in confidentiality, expert witnesses, fiduciary duty, news, privilege by sally

‘Expert witnesses owe a fiduciary obligation of loyalty to their client and it is not satisfied simply by putting in place measures to preserve confidentiality and privilege, the High Court has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 16th April 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Do Medical Practitioners have a duty to disclose Genetic Disorders despite the Principles of Confidentiality? – Exchange Chambers

‘An analysis of the ethical and legal considerations underpinning a decision to inform a patient’s relatives about a diagnosis of a genetic disorder in light of the recent judgment handed down in ABC v St Georges Healthcare and Others [2020] EWHC 455 (QB).’

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Exchange Chambers, 25th March 2020

Source: www.exchangechambers.co.uk

Patient confidentiality – to breach or not to breach? – No. 5 Chambers

‘In 2007 C’s father (XX) killed his wife, C’s mother. He was made the subject of a hospital order. He was treated by D1’s multidisciplinary team. In 2009 his care was transferred to Dr O, a consultant forensic psychiatrist. C took part in family therapy sessions through D2. There was a suspicion that XX had Huntington’s disease but he refused to undergo genetic testing. He did not want C or her sister to know. His patient confidentiality was respected by D1 and D2. About this time C became pregnant. In 2013 C tested positive for Huntington’s. C was accidentally informed that XX had tested positive.’

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No. 5 Chambers, 10th March 2020

Source: www.no5.com