Background: Phil Gross initiated legal action against John Gross and the Peak Group to enforce an alleged asset-sharing agreement from 1992. Phil sent pre-litigation letters, which led to John and the Peak Group counterclaiming for defamation and abuse of process. Phil sought to strike the counterclaim, asserting absolute privilege over his statements.

Legal Issues: The main legal issue concerned whether Phil Gross had impliedly waived solicitor-client privilege by referencing conditional instructions to sue in support of his absolute privilege defense. The Court needed to decide if stating conditional instructions to sue constituted a waiver of privilege, and whether Phil's state of mind was put into issue by this reference.

Judgment: The appeal was dismissed. The Court held that Phil Gross did not waive solicitor-client privilege by merely asserting that there were conditional instructions to sue. The judge correctly applied the test for implied waiver of solicitor-client privilege and found no error in the original decision.

Costs/Award: The document did not specify the total amount of costs or awards in favor of the successful party. The primary focus was on the legal principles regarding solicitor-client privilege and absolute privilege in the context of defamation and abuse of process claims.