Clifford v Vegas Enterprises Pty Ltd (No 3) [2010] FCA 287

Clifford v Vegas Enterprises Pty Ltd (No 3) [2010] FCA 287

The applicant had waived privilege in the expert report by producing it in Family Court proceedings. The documents enumerated in section 4.0 of the report, which informed the expert's opinions, similarly do not attract privilege and should be produced to avoid inconsistency and unfairness.

Parties
Applicant: Philip George Clifford; First Respondent: Vegas Enterprises Pty Ltd (ACN 009 078 148); Second Respondent: Rodney Desmond Hart; Third Respondent: Geoffrey Brian Backshall
Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
22 March 2010
Procedural Posture
Civil / Pre Trial, Interlocutory Order on Subpoena and Privilege
Outcome
Privilege claim disallowed, production of documents ordered
Legal Topics
Legal Professional Privilege, Waiver of Privilege, Subpoena of Documents, Expert Reports
Evidence Legal Professional Privilege Waiver of Privilege Subpoena of Documents Expert Reports

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Parties

Philip George Clifford

Applicant

Vegas Enterprises Pty Ltd (ACN 009 078 148)

First Respondent

Rodney Desmond Hart

Second Respondent

Geoffrey Brian Backshall

Third Respondent

Procedural Posture

Civil / Pre Trial, Interlocutory Order on Subpoena and Privilege

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether documents provided to an expert for the purpose of preparing a report are privileged
  2. 2 Whether waiver of privilege over an expert report extends to the underlying documents supplied to the expert

Ratio Decidendi

The applicant had waived privilege in the expert report by producing it in Family Court proceedings. The documents enumerated in section 4.0 of the report, which informed the expert's opinions, similarly do not attract privilege and should be produced to avoid inconsistency and unfairness.

Court Disposition

Privilege claim disallowed, production of documents ordered

Orders

  • The documents enumerated in section 4.0 of the Harvey Pickup report dated 3 November 2008 be produced