Can a solicitor disclose confidential information?

As Sopinka, J. said in Martin v. Gray, this is an evidentiary issue and there is a burden on the respondent which must be discharged without disclosing confidential information. Without knowing what is in the files, it is impossible to know whether all or some of it is compellable. I am not satisfied that the respondent has discharged the heavy burden upon it. In any solicitor/client relationship, confidential information is ordinarily exchanged and there is no evidence before me to the contrary. Confidential information is defined very broadly in the Ethics Handbook, Chapter 6A as follows: ‘confidential information’ means information obtained from a client which is not generally known to the public; I am therefore satisfied that “a reasonably informed member of the public”, in scrutinizing this matter, would not conclude that no confidential information passed that “could be relevant” in these actions.