Category Archives: Privilege

Cases dealing with various types of privilege (e.g., litigation or solicitor-client).

Justice Quinn Clarifies Privilege Issues in Insurance Cases

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Stephen Cavanagh

I was happy to read the reasons of Justice Joseph W. Quinn in Panetta v. Retrocom et al., 2013 ONSC 2386 (CanLII) because, to my mind, they bring a great deal of clarity to what I find is an often-misunderstood topic: … Continue reading →

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Witness Statements Must Be Produced?

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Stephen Cavanagh

In Portelance v. Williams, 2013 ONSC 1928 (CanLII), Justice Lynne Leitch dismissed a motion for leave to appeal a ruling of Justice Johanne Morissette, dealing with production of documents. Justice Morissette had ordered the defendant “to provide a summary of the … Continue reading →

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Brown J. Discusses Waiver of Privilege

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Stephen Cavanagh

In Ebrahim v. Continental Precious Minerals, 2012 ONSC 1123 (CanLII), Mr. Justice David M. Brown undertook a fairly comprehensive analysis of the circumstances in which both lawyer-client privilege and litigation privilege will be found to have been waived. The discussion arose … Continue reading →

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Master Dash Orders Defendants to Produce Proportionate Liability Sharing Agreement

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Stephen Cavanagh

Master Ronald Dash has ordered that a secret agreement, entered into by defendants and a third-party in Moore v. Bertuzzi, 2012 ONSC 597 (CanLII), must be disclosed to the plaintiffs. In his reasons, the master undertook a comprehensive review of … Continue reading →

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Providing surveillance to defence medical expert constitutes waiver of privilege over it

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Stephen Cavanagh

In Aherne v. Chang, 2011 ONSC 2067 (CanLII), Master Donald E. Short considered the question of whether sending privileged surveillance videos to a defence medical expert in a personal injury action results in the loss of privilege on the surveillance. … Continue reading →

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Summary of Privileged Statement Must Be Given Even Though Witness Examined for Discovery

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Stephen Cavanagh

Tiller v. St. Andrew’s College dealt with a somewhat obscure practice point, but one that arises regularly in tort litigation: where a witness being examined for discovery has previously given a statement about the incident, is the examining party entitled … Continue reading →

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Court Analyzes Lawyer-Client Privilege in Electronic Era

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Stephen Cavanagh

We are grateful to Master Robert Beaudoin for passing along an interesting decision by Madam Justice Ramona A. Wildman, dealing with lawyer-client privilege. The case is Eizenshtein v. Eizenshtein. It flew under our radar because of being a family law … Continue reading →

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Decision Elucidates Requirements for Production of Expert’s “Foundational Material”

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Stephen Cavanagh

Bookman v. Loeb was a family law case but the reasons of Madam Justice Ruth E. Mesbur shed light on a somewhat unsettled area of civil litigation: to what extent must a litigant produce “foundational material” for an expert opinion? … Continue reading →

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What Information Must Be Provided at Discovery, Regarding Surveillance?

Posted on March 26, 2009 by Stephen Cavanagh

Mr. Justice John Cavarzan has provided some clarification about a small point that not-infrequently comes up in personal injury litigation: what questions must the defendant answer about surveillance that has been undertaken on the plaintiff? The case is Marchese v. … Continue reading →

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Must Insurer Maintain “Firewall” Between Tort and No-Fault Claims?

Posted on March 24, 2008 by Stephen Cavanagh

In Trecartin v. Pilot Insurance Company, Mr. Justice George T. Valin considered the position of an insurer defending both a tort action and an accident benefits claim brought by the same plaintiff. In the no-fault action, the insurer, Pilot Insurance, was … Continue reading →

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