Michael Dew is a Vancouver lawyer who practices in all areas of civil litigation (including ICBC cases). Click here for contact information and further details about Michael’s practice.
1. Introduction
Document disclosure is a central element of civil litigation and many commercial cases involve hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of documents. On such cases, it is essential to be methodical when reviewing client files and listing relevant documents. This article summarizes some of the basic principles of the British Columbia law of document disclosure and explains some strategies for managing document disclosure.
2. The law of document disclosure
2.1 Everyone’s approach is different
There is no single "correct" approach to document disclosure. Indeed, almost every lawyer will have their own approach; a somewhat disconcerting thought given the importance of document disclosure to the civil litigation process. However, the British Columbia Supreme Court has explained that listing and disclosing documents is a task that calls for flexibility and ingenuity:
