The plaintiffs in two related medical malpractice actions sought leave to appeal an order removing their counsel of record.
The removal was ordered because plaintiffs' counsel retained an expert witness, a former hospital employee, who had previously been involved in the hospital's defence and possessed confidential, privileged information.
The Divisional Court granted leave to appeal on a single narrow issue: whether the plaintiffs should be afforded an opportunity to propose precautionary steps to mitigate prejudice before the drastic remedy of removing counsel is imposed.
