DBB’s Jason Wilkins appear at Supreme Court on issue of solicitor-client privilege

DBB’s Jason Wilkins recently represented the intervener, the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) at the Supreme Court of Canada on the issue of solicitor-client privilege on The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta v. the Board of Governors of the University of Calgary.

The court withheld judgment after hearing the case April 1. It will decide whether the substantive rule created in its own recent rulings is strong enough to trump legislation giving government officials the right to see documents over which solicitor-client privilege has been claimed.

The public expects communications with lawyers will be protected by solicitor-client privilege and that lawyers need the certainty of knowing the privilege is near absolute if they are to be able to deal effectively with their clients.

“I believe solicitor-client privilege, on the jurisprudence of the court, holds a unique place in terms of privilege,” she said. Clients must be able to be forthcoming with information, as lawyers’ advice “can only be reliable if we fully understand the problem.”

Read full article in CBA’s National magazine here.