Salinas v. Sklyarov

The dispute between Mr. Salinas and Mr. Sklyarov arose from the transfer of shares worth over $440M as security for a $150M loan. The claimants allege that the defendants sold the shares and kept the $254M difference. To gather information on the defendants, the claimants engaged the detective firm Black Cube, made up of former Mossad agents. Posing as a potential client, an agent of the firm extracted information from a partner of the London firm representing the defendants, including at meetings in Amsterdam. The High Court of England and Wales found the claimants’ conduct to be an abuse and refused them summary judgment. The Court of Appeal went further, holding that such conduct is at least a tort under English law and possibly a criminal offense. As a proportionate sanction, the court additionally discharged the interim measures against the defendants, but considered that dismissing the claim altogether would be excessive. The court also rejected the argument that the lawyer had personally waived privilege. The right to waive privilege belongs to the client, not to the lawyer.

The Court of Appeal took a critical view of obtaining privileged information through a detective firm and stripped the claimants of the interim measures granted in their favor. By contrast, in the dispute over Oleg Burlakov’s estate, an English court did not find similar conduct unlawful.