Supreme Court

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NOVA SCOTIA

Citation: Di-Anna Aqua Inc. v. Ocean Spar Technologies L.L.C., 2005 NSSC 354

Date: 20051229

Docket: ST 09193

Registry: Truro

Between:

Di-Anna Aqua Incorporated

Plaintiff

v.

Ocean Spar Technologies L.L.C. and

Net Systems Incorporated

Defendants

LIBRARY HEADING

Judge:         The Honourable Justice Hilroy S. Nathanson

Heard:         November 23 and December 1, 2005, in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Subject:       Conflict of Interest — Disqualification

Summary:   Bradley, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, retained as a prospective expert witness by the defendants, interviewed and hired Anthony, who, unbeknownst to Bradley, had co-authored a report with Raynard while working for Grant Thornton, retained as a prospective expert witness by the plaintiffs.              

Issue: Whether there exists a conflict of interest with respect to a prospective expert witness and his firm.

Result:        The test in MacDonald Estate v. Martin (1990), 77 D.L.R. (4^th) 249 (S.C.C.) is discussed and applied.

The evidence is less than clear and convincing that all reasonable measures were taken in a timely manner to ensure that no disclosure occurred to one or more members of PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Bradley and the members of his firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, were disqualified from acting as expert witnesses.

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