What is solicitor-client privilege?

Solicitor-client privilege refers to any communication between you and your lawyer is considered “privileged” and therefore not available to the court or to the other person in your legal matter. This is an important privilege between you and your lawyer as your approach with your lawyer needs to be private.

What Does it Mean to Waive Your Solicitor-Client Privilege?

When preparing your legal documents you are required to provide evidence of the facts you present. Emails have become a more common form of evidence in court documents, however, you must be cautious what emails you include as part of your evidence. In a recent case in British Columbia, F.C.A.S. v C.E.S., 2023 BCSC 1098, Ms. S choose to disclose certain correspondence with her former lawyer in her court documents pertaining to her children’s parentage and the separation date. Mr. S asked the court to have all of the correspondence with Ms. S’ former lawyer that related to the children’s parentage, the separation date and various other related issues. Despite Ms. S stating she did not intend to waive solicitor-client privilege, the court determined that Ms. S “expressly waived privilege” when she disclosed part of the correspondence and could not pick and choose what she would like to include and that Ms. S was therefore entitled to see all the communications regarding the issues.

Be sure to be informed about your solicitor-client privilege and what you can share without waiving privilege.

Contact us anytime at SMP Law to help SiMPlify your legal matter at 905-565-9494 or email info@smplaw.ca if you have any questions or would like to book an appointment to meet and discuss your situation and how we can help.

Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Instagram!