The files of the appellant, an actuary engaged to provide valuations to lawyers acting for employers who are considering setting up health and welfare trusts, including its reports, notes, drafts and communications with the lawyers, did not fall within the class of solicitor-client privilege simply because the lawyers used the actuary's views to provide legal advice to their clients.
However, Gauthier J. went on to note (at p. 6102) that "the names and coordinates of a client would be protected by solicitor-client privilege if, on the particular circumstances of the case, disclosing them would reveal the topic and substance of the legal advice sought" and that here, given that CCRA already had a copy of one of the legal opinions that had been given, "an assiduous and intelligent investigator at CCRA [would] be able to determine the nature of the legal advice given to each of these employers", the names of the employers in this case were protected by a solicitor-client privilege. Although such names have been passed on by the lawyers to the actuary, this disclosure was not intended to waive their clients' privilege.