Jack Keating, Staff Reporter The Province

Sarah McLachlan, who has sat serenely in court for two and a half weeks listening to the plaintiff's case, is eagerly awaiting her chance to testify in the civil suit against her and Nettwerk Productions.

"I am looking forward to the opportunity of telling my side of the story," McLachlan said outside B.C. Supreme Court yesterday. Her testimony is expected to start today.

"This is really important for me to be here to defend this. This is my good name. This is Nettwerk's good name that's being taken to task. And I think it's really important to stand up for what you believe in and to fight for it. This whole thing is about fairness."

McLachlan, who is one of the world's most popular female singers, says the case has brought back memories of her arrival in Vancouver from Halifax in 1987 as a 19-year-old to record her first CD at Nettwerk Productions on West Fourth Ave.

"I remember it as being incredibly exciting," said McLachlan. "I was moving to a big city and I had a fantastic opportunity. I remember being thrilled by it."

McLachlan said Nettwerk had been prepared to settle the dispute out of court.

"We tried to settle it many times. We couldn't," she said of the suit brought by Darryl Neudorf. "It's going to have some closure one way or the other. I am looking forward to that."