When a lawyer who assisted a senior member of a law firm on behalf of one litigant, later goes to work for another law firm, does this breach of the law firm's duty to act?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Grabber and Janes v. Stewart, 2000 BCCA 206 (CanLII):
This case is clearly distinguishable on its facts from Martin v. MacDonald. There, a lawyer who had assisted a senior member of a law firm on behalf of one litigant, later went to work for another firm which represented the opposite side in the same litigation. Mr. Justice Sopinka for the majority laid down the two-part test referred to above, namely whether the lawyer received confidential information attributable to a solicitor-client relationship relevant to the matter at hand, and whether there is a risk that such confidential information will be used to the prejudice of the client. In the circumstances of that case both parts of the test were satisfied, and the order prohibiting the second law firm from acting was affirmed.
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