A claims adjuster originally had been retained directly by the client, an insurance company, and some time after the appointment of this expert, the insurance company retained a lawyer and directed the claims adjuster to report to the lawyer. The Court found that as the claims adjuster did not have the authority to seek legal advice or to give instructions on legal matters on behalf of the insurance company, his authority did not reach inside this client-solicitor relationship. Instead, his function was to educate the lawyer as to the circumstances surrounding a fire so that the client (the insurance company) could receive the benefit of better informed advice from its lawyer. The claims adjuster's correspondence and communications with the lawyer were not privileged.
Doherty J.A. stated (at p. 26):
"I think that the applicability of client-solicitor privilege to third party communications in circumstances where the third party cannot be described as a channel of communication between the solicitor and client should depend on the true nature of the function that the third party was retained to perform for the client. If the third party's retainer extends to a function which is essential to the existence or operation of the client-solicitor relationship, then the privilege should cover any communications which are in furtherance of that function and which meet the criteria for client-solicitor privilege. ... If a client authorizes a third party to direct a solicitor to act on behalf of the client, or if the client authorizes the third party to seek legal advice from the solicitor on behalf of the client, the third party is performing a function which is central to the client-solicitor relationship."