In his decision this Fall in Fraleigh v. RBC Dominion Securities, Ontario Superior Court Justice Newbould summarily dismissed an action brought by John Fraleigh against RBC Dominion Securities and one of its employees. The action was brought for allegedly false statements and testimony given before the Ontario Securities Commission claiming unusual trading activity in his RBC trading accounts – information that was later published in media reports. In dismissing Fraleigh’s action, Justice Newbould found that the claim arose entirely from testimony and other related communications to the OSC; communications that are protected by absolute privilege.

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Last fall, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned an order enforcing a request for international judicial assistance (also known as letters rogatory) that sought to compel a former executive of a Talisman Energy Inc. subsidiary to be deposed in a U.S. action.

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A recent Ontario Superior Court decision serves as a strong reminder that counsel should ensure that their expert witness is in fact an expert and not merely an advocate dressed up as an expert.

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It has not taken long for Ontario litigants to begin feeling the impact of the recent decision by Canada’s Supreme Court that protection of solicitor-client privilege required the removal of plaintiff’s counsel in Celanese Canada Inc. v. Murray Demolition. If there was any doubt as to the serious consequences that can flow from counsel’s receipt and review of an opposing party’s privileged documents, that doubt was surely erased for a defendant that was recently deprived of its counsel of choice at the beginning of trial.

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In its recent decision in Celanese Canada Inc. v. Murray Demolition Corp. the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously favoured protecting solicitor-client privilege over the right to be represented by one’s solicitor of choice.

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