Kamloops mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson speaking to reporters outside the Kamloops courthouse on Oct. 16, 2024.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

A hearing that will pit the mayor of Kamloops against his former lawyer will be sealed after a judge's ruling this week.

Associate judge Jennifer Keim gave her decision on Nov. 7 that shuts the public out of the courtroom as lawyer David McMillan seeks more than $35,000 in allegedly unpaid bills from Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson.

There was concern that some evidence made public could taint an ongoing lawsuit between Hamer-Jackson and another city councillor, one that McMillan helped with before another lawyer took over. Typically a sealing order would be proposed by one side of a lawsuit — Hamer-Jackson in this case — but it was Keim who suggested it on after reading over McMillan's evidence.

"Evidence doesn't always proceed in a neat and tidy little box," she said on Oct. 16, raising the possibility that Hamer-Jackson's testimony could veer into details from the other case.

READ MORE: Why city staff wouldn't let the Kamloops mayor speak at a council meeting

McMillan told iNFOnews.ca Keim had "good, cogent" reasons for closing the public from the upcoming hearing.

"(Keim) explained the importance of maintaining solicitor-client privilege, but then she switched gears and made some very carefully worded comments about the importance of openness and transparency and the principle that the courts are public," McMillan said. "She came to the conclusion that I thought was obvious, but she did give ample consideration to both aspects of the equation."

It's not clear when McMillan will have his day in court to argue Hamer-Jackson owes him thousands in legal bills. They haven't settled on a date and McMillan said it's because he hasn't decided whether he'll get his own lawyer, so he hasn't contacted Hamer-Jackson to arrange the hearing.

He also said he's waiting for Hamer-Jackson to get a lawyer for the matter, but Hamer-Jackson said he doesn't plan to.

"These lawyers are very expensive. Can you imagine bringing a team of lawyers up for these two things?" Hamer-Jackson said.

They are due to appear once more to settle the matter of closed hearings as Keim, who is an associate judge, cannot rule on sealing court documents, like evidence, though she can rule on the hearing itself. On Nov. 12, a BC Supreme Court judge is expected to smooth out that final wrinkle.

READ MORE: Defiant and controversial: Kamloops mayor digs in with half of term left

It's Hamer-Jackson's defamation lawsuit against councillor Katie Neustaeter that risks becoming public in the fight over legal bills.

McMillan was still working with Hamer-Jackson as they prepared for the civil claim and when it was filed last summer. By October, Hamer-Jackson found a new lawyer to take the case, but it hasn't been settled and McMillan's evidence could reveal details that aren't yet public.

Although McMillan took no position on whether the matter should be sealed or not, he both expects and, because it involves the city's mayor, hopes the details will be revealed once the case against Neustaeter is concluded.

"My take is that there is a strong public interest in knowing what might have gone on in this hearing," he said.

Neustaeter has filed an application to toss the defamation suit in its entirety, but it was delayed and now it's not expected to be heard by a judge until January.

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News from © iNFOnews, 2024