Privileged Witness Statement Must be Produced

In a personal injury action, certain documents may be claimed by the insurer as privileged and hence cannot be produced to the injured Plaintiff. However, there is a long-standing principle that the insurer must produce the "gist" or a "summary" of the witness statement they are claiming privilege over, to the injured Plaintiff - although the statement itself need not be produced. Sometimes, insurers will try to get around this requirement. In the case of Tiller v. St. Andrew's College, the Defendant took the position that a summary of the witness statement did not have to be produced to the injured Plaintiff as that witness was going to be produced at examinations for discovery and hence the Plaintiff could ask whatever relevant questions she wanted. The Justice in Tiller ruled that the Defendant was to produce a summary of the witness statement, notwithstanding that the witness would be produced for examinations. Costs were awarded to the injured Plaintiff for the motion. For a free consultation regarding your personal injury case, call Todd K. Plant at 613-563-1131. Plant Quinn Thiele LLP, Personal Injury Lawyers. www.pqtlaw.com