By Brad Dobbin Barb Cotton

In 2004 Walter Kubitz and Barb Cotton reviewed the admissibility and scope of surrebuttal reports and concluded that the issue had not as yet been resolved by the Alberta courts. With the passage of time the approach of the courts seems clearer, and thus the above authors revisit the issue.

Time has established that the leading authority on the issue of the timing of production of expert reports generally, as well as on the issue of the scope of the rebuttal, is Justice Slatter's decision of Wade v. Baxter, [2001] A.J. No. 1471, 2001 ABQB 812, [2002] 3 W.W.R. 133, 98 Alta. L.R. (3d) 230, 302 A.R. 1. There is earlier contrary authority, notably Justice Rooke's decision of Sherstone v. Westroc Industries Ltd., [2000] A.J. No. 926, 2000 ABQB 787, [2000] 11 W.W.R. 726, 84 Alta. L.R. (3d) 375, 269 A.R. 278, 8 C.P.C. (5th) 261. However, later decisions have preferred to adopt Justice Slatter's decision as authoritative.

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