Can a solicitor defend the privilege of absolute privilege in a letter to a client?

The issue of absolute privilege in Waple came before the court on an interlocutory summons and the existence of a possible defence of qualified privilege was not under consideration. The court, however, referred to The ordinary rule … that letters written by a solicitor in the performance of his or her duties to a client of the firm attract qualified privilege (Baker v. Carrick, [1894] 1 Q.B. 838) and that this is a free-standing privilege of the solicitor who is not infected automatically by the malice of the client… and saw no warrant for extending the scope of absolute privilege to cover the statements in the solicitor's letter.