Let it Rain: Supreme Court Green Lights Umbrella Purchaser Class Actions October 16, 2019 Chris Kinnear Hunter and Paul-Erik Veel On September 20, 2019, the Supreme Court released its long-awaited decision in Pioneer Corp v Godfrey. Godfrey is the Supreme Court’s latest decision involving price-fixing class actions, and expands on and clarifies the basic approach to these cases that the Court laid out six years ago in Pro-Sys Consultants Limited v Microsoft Corporation.
Blaney's Appeals: Court of Appeal Summaries (September 30 – October 4) October 11, 2019 John Polyzogopoulos Topics this week included family law, costs in the wills and estates context, contractual interpretation, assessment of accounts in the condominium law context, and stay pending leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
2019 Privacy Class Actions Update: Why did Casino Rama fail and Bell Mobility succeed? May 31, 2019 Avi Sharabi Why did the Ontario Superior Court of Justice refuse to certify the Casino Rama privacy breach class action, but then certified the Bell Mobility class action less than a week later? This piece offers a few theories explaining the opposing outcomes.
A Pyrrhic Victory in a One-man Class Action Trial May 11, 2019 Tina Yang In Davies v. The Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington, a single class member proceeded to trial - and despite being the successful party, ended up with a $2.5 million adverse costs award for his trouble.
Brazeau v. Canada: Ontario court explores un-Chartered territory April 26, 2019 Janeta Zurakowski In Brazeau v. Canada, 2019 ONSC 1888, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded $20 million in damages for class-wide systemic Charter breaches following a successful summary judgment motion by the class.
The Rana Plaza Class Action: Lessons for Class Action Lawyers April 24, 2019 Ranjan Agarwal, Gannon Beaulne and Ethan Schiff Lessons learned from the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision in Das v George Weston Limited regarding dispositive motions and costs awards.
Welsh v. Ontario: Regaining Predictability in the Settlement and Fee Approval Process, But at What Cost? February 25, 2019 Chantelle Cseh and Megan Moniz A recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal suggests that the court cannot go beyond simply approving or rejecting a proposed settlement or class counsel’s fees, to unilaterally impose amendments to better achieve what the court views as a fair result.
Ontario Court of Appeal: “Monetary Award” Grounding Payment of Class Action Contingency Fee Includes More than Money Distributed to Class Members February 25, 2019 Ian Matthews In Jeffrey v. London Life, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that when a class action results in a monetary award that benefits class members – even if they have no “right” to that award – class counsel’s contingency fee may charged against and paid from that award.
Houle-most There Continued: Divisional Court Upholds Order Conditionally Approving Litigation Funding Agreement January 23, 2019 Christopher Wirth and Michael Tersigni In Houle v St. Jude Medical Inc., the Ontario Divisional Court upheld a decision conditionally approving a litigation funding agreement in a products liability class action.
Ontario Court of Appeal Rules in Heller v Uber Technologies Inc: A Sensible Result with Challenging Implications January 15, 2019 Paul-Erik Veel In its first decision of the year, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that arbitration clauses in Uber’s contracts with its drivers were void, and that a proposed class action against Uber could proceed.