Does privilege over an without prejudice letter apply to the entire document?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Vetshopaustralia Pty. Ltd. v. Pivotal Partners Inc., 2007 BCSC 1519 (CanLII):

More recently in Trask v. Canada Life Assurance, 2002 BCSC 1741, this court held that privilege over a without prejudice letter written by the defendant had been waived because it had been disclosed in part 1 of the defendant's list of documents. An issue before the court was whether the waiver extended to the underlying working documents of that without prejudice document. The court held that principles of fairness and consistency required disclosure of the entirety of the communication, and not merely a portion of it.

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