The law firm said it had resolved its differences with UK newspaper the Guardian and the BBC over its breach of confidence claim arising from the Paradise Papers.
Only last week it was welcoming moves to expedite the case and had looked to have a strong case.
Appleby said all it wanted to know was which of its “confidential and privileged documents” had been taken, but after working with reporters it has now said the trove is not legally privileged.
Last month, the BBC published a story based on the Paradise Papers about how Ukrainian gangsters had allegedly used offshore lawyers to hide their ownership of London property.
Appleby said of the claims: “It is absurd to insinuate accusations against Appleby in relation to alleged failures of client due diligence on the basis of information which was simply not available at the time”.
However, a source familiar with the matter told International Adviser the due diligence information in question was not available “at the time of client take-on”.
Appleby have asserted the Paradise Papers leak showed “no wrong doing”.
Not legally privileged
“Without compromising their journalistic integrity or ability to continue to do public interest journalism, the Guardian and the BBC have assisted Appleby by explaining which of the company’s documents may have been used to underpin their journalism,” Appleby said in the latest statement.
“This will allow Appleby to initiate meaningful discussions with its clients, colleagues and regulators.
“It is now clear that the vast majority of documents that were of interest in the Paradise Papers investigation related to the fiduciary business that is no longer owned by Appleby and so were not legally privileged documents.”
Michael O’Connell, group managing partner of Appleby, said: “From the outset, we wanted to be able to explain to our clients and colleagues what information of theirs had been stolen. That was our duty. As a result of this legal action, we are well on our way to achieving our objectives.”
A spokesperson for the Guardian said: “The Guardian’s reporting from the Paradise Papers is investigative journalism that has raised important issues in the public interest.”
A spokesperson for the BBC said: “We welcome this settlement which preserves our ability to carry out investigative journalism in the public interest.”
Paper leak
The 13.4 million Appleby documents were leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with a US-based organisation, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The leak from Bermuda-based Appleby was the second law firm hack to hit the offshore world. It followed the Panama Papers in April 2016, which saw 11.5 million documents exposing the offshore dealings of politicians, sports stars and public officials.
That data was stolen from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which has since shut down.
