Are lawyer's accounting records within the scope of privilege? Maybe

Donell v. GJB Enterprises Inc., 2012 BCCA 135 is a careful analysis of when a lawyer's accounting records are privileged. The decision is worth reading in full but here is the Court's conclusion:

[59]           In summary, in my view:

1.         at a minimum, Maranda establishes that lawyers' bills, in the criminal law context, are presumptively subject to solicitor-client privilege;

2.         this presumption flows from the connection between lawyers' bills and the nature of the relationship between lawyers and clients;  the account reflects work done on behalf of the client which involves communications that are privileged;

3.         the presumption may be rebutted if it is established that there is no reasonable possibility that disclosure will directly or indirectly reveal any communications protected by privilege;

4.         Maranda did not do away with the distinction between communications, which are privileged, and facts, which are not;

5.         other financial records of lawyers are not presumptively subject to solicitor-client privilege insofar as they merely represent records of actions or facts, but they should not be produced automatically solely for that reason;

6.         Maranda mandates that it is necessary to consider such records in order to determine whether they arise out of the solicitor-client relationship and what transpires within it, that is, communications to obtain legal advice;

7.         if it is concluded that the records do arise out of that relationship and what transpires within it, they are presumed to be privileged, but the privilege can be rebutted and the document produced if it is established that production will not permit the deduction or acquisition of communications protected by solicitor-client privilege.