British Columbia (Securities Commission) v. BDS

British Columbia (Securities Commission) v. BDS

Solicitor-client privilege is confined to confidential communications between solicitor and client (or agent) directly for the purpose of seeking, formulating or giving legal advice; business, banking and accounting records and other objective documents are not privileged merely because they are in a solicitor's...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
2002 BCSC 664
Parties
Petitioner: British Columbia Securities Commission; Respondent: BDS; Respondent: CWM
Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
3 May 2002
Procedural Posture
Securities Act Investigation / Hearing on Solicitor Client Privilege Following Production Demand
Outcome
Partial production ordered; specified documents found privileged and sealed; remaining non-privileged documents released to the Commission.
Legal Topics
Solicitor Client Privilege, Production of Documents, Summons to Testify, Privilege Redaction, Scope of Privilege
Source Language
english
Securities Law Evidence Solicitor Client Privilege Civil Procedure Production of Documents Summons to Testify Privilege Redaction Scope of Privilege

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Parties

British Columbia Securities Commission

Petitioner

BDS

Respondent

CWM

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Securities Act Investigation / Hearing on Solicitor Client Privilege Following Production Demand

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether solicitor-client privilege attaches to all documents in a solicitor's file
  2. 2 Scope of privilege for communications between solicitor, client and client agents
  3. 3 Whether business, accounting or banking records are covered by privilege

Ratio Decidendi

Solicitor-client privilege is confined to confidential communications between solicitor and client (or agent) directly for the purpose of seeking, formulating or giving legal advice; business, banking and accounting records and other objective documents are not privileged merely because they are in a solicitor's file or because the client expected ongoing legal advice, and where privilege exists documents must be identified and sealed or redacted but non-privileged materials must be produced to the Commission.

Court Disposition

Partial production ordered; specified documents found privileged and sealed; remaining non-privileged documents released to the Commission.

Orders

  • Privileged documents identified by the court are to be sealed and retained pending further court order.
  • Effective May 20, 2002 the Commission may obtain copies of all non-privileged documents from the court registry; the registry will retain original file documents pending further court order.