In Alberta, litigants are limited in their ability to question
those who are not parties to the litigation. However, Rule 5.18 of
the Alberta Rules of Court creates an exception that allows parties
to question those who provide services to corporate litigants. In
1218388 Alberta Ltd v Reifel Cooke Group
Limited, 2019 ABQB 76, the Court provides some useful
guidance on the operation of Rule 5.18.
Background on Rule 5.18
Rule 5.18 allows a party to question persons providing services
to a corporation if the following criteria are met:
- The party cannot obtain relevant and
material information from a current or former officer or employee
of the corporation;
- It would be unfair to require the
party to proceed to trial without the chance to question on that
information; and
