Date: 2011-04-26 Docket: 09-CV-387984. Perell J. | Link

Court sets aside a Master's decision that had concluded that the proportionality principle could have an expansive influence. The discussion starts at para 154, but the following will be important to large litigation-prone corporations: "[164]      If adopted as a precedent, the Master’s approach of treating proportionality as having an expansionary influence destroys the parsimony of the proportionality principle and allows the argument that because a case is important or the claim large, there should be more procedure not less procedure. The proportionality principle would lose its utility for large cases, such as class proceedings and other public interest litigation, where justice can be done by reducing not expanding the procedure. The proportionality principles yields an “equality of arms” by arms reduction and is not meant to prompt an arms race. In my opinion, in this particular case, the Master erred in principle in his treatment of the proportionality principle."