Part of the recent decision of Justice Tottle in
Westgem & Ors v Commonwealth Bank of Australia & Ors
(No 2) [2018] WASC 71 illustrates that the legal
professional privilege attached to documents provided to an expert
for the purposes of producing a report, can be waived when that
report is provided to the other party.
Factual background
The expert was instructed by the defendants' solicitors to
produce a report for trial expressing his opinion on questions
relating to the time and costs involved in completing the
construction of a well-known inner-city development and on the
conduct of the superintendent appointed under the building
contract.
He was provided with numerous documents, some of which were
redacted to conceal privileged material and others which were in
unredacted form. Some of the documents provided to the expert in
unredacted form were only provided to the plaintiffs in redacted
form on the basis of legal professional privilege. The
plaintiffs'
