What is the law of conflicts of interest for a solicitor in a personal injury case?

New Brunswick, Canada


The following excerpt is from Saint John Shipbuilding v. Bow Valley Husky (Bermuda), Husky Oil, Bow Valley Industries, Bow Drill Three Partnership and 384830 Alberta Inc., 2001 NBQB 267 (CanLII):

The law of conflicts of interest in these circumstances is set out in the judgment of Justice Sopinka in the case of MacDonald Estate v. Martin, 1990 CanLII 32 (SCC), [1990] 3 S.C.R. 1235. The test set out by Justice Sopinka is quoted in nearly all similar conflict cases. At pages 1229 — 1230: [Page 5] Since, however, not susceptible of proof; the test must be such [page 1260) that the public represented by the reasonably informed person would be satisfied that no use of confidential information would occur.... Typically, these cases require two questions to be answered: (1) Did the lawyer receive confidential information attributable to a solicitor and client relationship relevant to the matter at hand? (2) Is there a risk that it will be used to the prejudice of the client?

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