Part 2 of Labels on legal correspondence. The confidence and status labels, and how to split a mixed letter.
A barrister with an evidence and privilege practice.
Confidentiality and privilege labels
A request for a smaller audience, not an automatic cone of silence.
What it usually means
The sender expects restricted handling. Legal enforceability may depend on agreement, duty, circumstances, court order or another source.
Use it when
The material genuinely requires controlled distribution and you can identify the basis and permitted recipients.
Do not use it when
You believe the word alone creates legal professional privilege or prevents use in court.
Two adjectives. Still only one envelope.
What it usually means
A conventional request that the named recipient handle the material privately.
Use it when
Sending sensitive personal or commercial information directly to an intended recipient.
Do not use it when
You expect “private” to stop lawful disclosure, compulsory production or reliance where otherwise permitted.
Privilege is a legal relationship, not a self-awarded loyalty badge.
What it usually means
The sender asserts that a recognised privilege—legal professional privilege, called client legal privilege in the Evidence Act—protects the communication or document. The privilege depends on the communication being confidential and made for the dominant purpose of legal advice or litigation; a lawyer being involved is not enough, and the protection can be lost by disclosure or conduct inconsistent with keeping it confidential.
Use it when
The communication genuinely falls within the relevant privilege, such as a confidential lawyer-client communication for legal advice or litigation, subject to the applicable law.
Do not use it when
Writing to the opponent, copying a lawyer into ordinary business correspondence, or trying to protect facts simply by declaring them privileged.
The spreadsheet would like you to lower your voice.
What it usually means
The material contains commercially sensitive information and is expected to be handled on a restricted basis.
Use it when
The information is genuinely commercially sensitive and any governing agreement, order or protocol supports the restriction.
Do not use it when
You assume it prevents disclosure required by law or automatically creates privilege.
A warning label cannot personally issue a suppression order; in NSW only a court can, under the Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010.
What it usually means
The sender says material should not be published. The legal reason might be a court order, statute, undertaking, confidentiality obligation—or none stated.
Use it when
You can identify the actual restriction and its scope.
Do not use it when
You are inventing a prohibition or assuming the heading binds every recipient.
Status and intention labels
A document still wearing its pencil marks.
What it usually means
The document is incomplete, unapproved or circulated for discussion.
Use it when
You genuinely expect revision and do not intend the document to be treated as final.
Do not use it when
You are sending the final operative version. Remove draft headers and tracked changes before filing or signing.
We may agree to agree, but we have not necessarily agreed.
What it usually means
The parties do not intend to be bound until a formal contract or deed is executed. Actual intention and context still matter.
Use it when
Negotiating terms that must be captured in a later executed agreement.
Do not use it when
You intend immediate binding agreement, or you assume the phrase cures inconsistent conduct and wording.
A sentence declining to confess is not a settlement framework.
What it usually means
The sender says an act, payment or proposal should not be treated as admitting liability or facts.
Use it when
Making a practical proposal or taking a step while expressly maintaining a disputed position.
Do not use it when
You expect it to create settlement privilege by itself or erase an admission actually made elsewhere in the communication.
The record has not signed this agreement.
What it usually means
An informal request that a statement not be attributed or used. In litigation it is dangerously vague.
Use it when
Rarely—and only after everyone clearly agrees what it means.
Do not use it when
Communicating something sensitive that requires actual legal protection.
A priority request, not a privately enacted court timetable.
What it usually means
The sender wants prompt attention.
Use it when
There is genuine time sensitivity; state the external deadline, event and action required.
Do not use it when
Everything you send is urgent. Eventually the word becomes office wallpaper.
Two words that should never be used as a solo performance.
What it usually means
The parties have agreed to the stated order, step or wording.
Use it when
Actual authority and agreement cover the exact version being sent.
Do not use it when
Consent is assumed, partial, conditional or still being negotiated.
One topic, two letters
If you need both an open procedural record and a settlement proposal, separate them.
The record
State the issue, dates, documents, procedural request and response deadline you say applies.
The compromise
Make the genuine settlement proposal and explain how acceptance would resolve the identified dispute.
The log
Save both emails and attachments separately, preserving their labels and complete threads.
Before you press send
- I know the job this communication is doing.
- The heading matches its substance.
- I have not mixed open allegations with a settlement offer unnecessarily.
- Any offer clearly states its terms, scope, costs treatment, deadline and acceptance method.
- I checked the current court rule before calling something a formal offer.
- I have not assumed “confidential,” “privileged” or “official” creates protection by itself.
- I am comfortable with an independent reader seeing my tone.
- I saved the sent email and every attachment to the correspondence record.