CLEBC - Courses On Demand

Western Canada Class Actions Conference 2016

Course Date: February 26, 2016

Total: 1h 32min

Welcome and Introduction

Ward K. Branch, QC — Branch McMaster LLP, Vancouver
Luciana P. Brasil — Branch McMaster LLP, Vancouver

Cross Western Canada Checkup

Manitoba and Saskatchewan: why are so few cases certified in Manitoba?; why did SK abandon their “no cost”
rule?
Alberta: why does only the government get sued there?; what other types of claims should be filed there?
BC: should defendants allow plaintiffs to make this no-costs jurisdiction the centre of the action?

            Carsten Jensen, QC — JSS Barristers, Calgary
            Robert W. Leurer, QC — MacPherson, Leslie & Tyerman, Regina
            Jill S. Yates — McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Vancouver

Suing for Statutory Breach: Whither Wakelam?

when you have a breach of statute, what can you sue for?
has the BC Court of Appeal drawn a line that makes sense in the multiple cases to consider this issue?

Mahmud Jamal — Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Toronto
Reidar M. Mogerman — Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman, Vancouver

Networking Break

New Ethical Issues in Class Actions Litigation

when and how can you fee share with another lawyer (a) in your home jurisdiction, (b) another Canadian jurisdiction, or (c) a US counsel?; when can you fee share with a non-lawyer?
can you take steps to obtain an award for your representative plaintiff?; if so when, from what source, and
how much?
if class counsel has other clients whom they know to be potential class members of a class action, are they required to provide copies of the notice to them?
after losing a carriage fight or race to certification or settlement, are you required to send your client/claimants
who contacted you for ILA before recommending they opt out of the other action?
what do you do if you have disagreements with your co-counsel?
when and how can a defendant communicate with class members directly?

D. Geoffey Cowper, QC — Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver
Doug Lennox — Klein Lawyers LLP, Toronto

View from the Centre of the Canadian Universe

Ontario:
- will Ontario ever go "no costs"?; should it?
- is having specialist judges a blessing or a curse?

Theodore P. Charney — Charney Lawyers, Toronto
Mahmud Jamal — Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Toronto

Quebec:
- what are the new forthcoming Rules going to do?
- how do they feel about national classes in Quebec,
  or imposed on Quebec?
- do Quebec fees really need to be determined
  locally?

Marie Audren — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Montreal
Maxime Nasr — Belleau Lapointe, Montreal

Networking Lunch

Putting the Class Back Into Class Actions

why has the definition of the class become the new battleground on certification?
do you have to show that a class is “desirous” of suing?
if your claim is based on a statute, can you define your class to match the state, or this that “subjective”?
how much and what kind of evidence is required to show you have a class?

Ward K. Branch, QC — Branch McMaster LLP, Vancouver
James M. Sullivan — Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Vancouver

View from the Real Centre of the Class Actions Universe: The United States

plaintiff perspective
defendant perspective

Christopher M. Murphy — McDermott Will & Emery, Chicago
K. Craig Wildfang — Robins, Kaplan LLP, Minneapolis

The New Waves

(A) Privacy Class Actions

is it necessary to identify the Plaintiff?; does that not exacerbate the breach?
have the Canadian courts figured out how to quantify damages in breach of privacy actions?

Theodore P. Charney — Charney Lawyers, Toronto

(B) Drug Copyright Settlement Class Actions

Luciana P. Brasil — Branch McMaster LLP, Vancouver

Networking Break

The Devil is in the Detail: Learning from Settlement Implementation Issues