Privileged advice mistakenly sent by seller's solicitor: must the buyer be told? (Code 6.4(d))

Paragraph 6.4 of the Code requires a solicitor acting for a client to make the client aware of all information material to the matter of which the solicitor has knowledge, subject to limited exceptions. Paragraph 6.4(d) excludes information 'contained in a privileged document that you have knowledge of only because it has been mistakenly disclosed'. Counsel's advice to the seller is privileged. Zainab knows its contents only because it was attached by mistake, and she realised this at once. So para 6.4 does not oblige her to tell her client what it says. The exception reflects the importance the law attaches to legal professional privilege. In practice she should tell the seller's solicitors about the error and not use the document. She remains free to protect her client by proper means, for example by raising general enquiries and arranging searches and surveys about flood risk, as she would in any commercial purchase.

Why A is wrong: Para 6.4(d) creates an express exception for information in a privileged document known only because it was mistakenly disclosed.

Why B is wrong: No such waiver features in para 6.4; the exception in 6.4(d) applies regardless.

Why D is wrong: The timing is irrelevant; para 6.4(d) means there is no duty to pass on the contents at all.

Why E is wrong: The method of passing on the information does not matter; the 6.4 duty does not arise for this information.