In the recent decision in Soprema Inc. v. Wolrige Mahon LLP,
2016 BCCA 471, the British Columbia Court of Appeal confirmed the
status of solicitor-client privilege as "nearly absolute"
and clarified the test for determining whether a party has
impliedly waived of solicitor-client privilege by making its state
of mind a material issue in an action.
Soprema commenced an action against Wolrige Mahon LLP
("Wolrige") claiming that Wolrige had made false
representations about the accuracy of financial statements Soprema
had relied on in deciding whether to exercise an option to purchase
shares. Wolrige brought an interlocutory application seeking
production of some of Soprema's privileged documents, claiming
Soprema had waived privilege over these by putting its state of
mind at issue in the action. The chambers judge found that a waiver
of privilege will be implied where a party has put its state of
mind in issue in a manner that makes the privileged communications
highly
