Class Action
Submitted by Section Chair, Jill Yates
Summary of Meetings
Number of Meetings Held: 4
October 21, 2013
Guest Speakers: The Honourable Madam Justice Garson, Jim Sullivan, and Reidar Mogerman
Meeting Title/Topic: Pros, Cons and Challenges of Pre-Certification Motions in Class Proceedings
January 10, 2014
Guest Speakers: Geoffrey B. Gomery, Q.C., Nathanson Schachter & Thompson LLP, and
Ward Branch, Branch MacMaster LLP
Meeting Title/Topic: Supreme Court of Canada Trilogy: Pro-Sys Consultants Ltd. v. Microsoft Corporation, Sun-Rype Products Ltd. v. Archer Daniels Midland Company, and Infineon Technologies AG et al. v. Option Consommateurs, et al.
April 10, 2014
Guest Speaker: Robin Reinertson, Alexandra Cocks and Matthew Good
Meeting Title/Topic: 2013 Class Action Round-Up: A Review of the Year’s Significant Class Action Decisions
June 5, 2014
Guest Speaker: Luciana Brasil, Branch MacMaster LLP
Meeting Title/Topic: Carriage Motions: an Update
Synopsis: In addition to hearing Ms. Brasil on Carriage Motions, we elected the 2014-2015 Executive, discussed an enquiry from the BC Law Institute regarding Financing Litigation and discussed the content of a letter from our Section to Hinkson CJSC regarding some suggestions for Rules and procedures specifically affecting the BC class action bar.
Reports or Resolutions prepared by the Section
We prepared a letter to The Honourable Chief Justuce C.E. Hinkson regarding Rules and procedures affecting the class actions bar in a negative way, and setting out proposals to mitigate these. The letter went to The Honourable Chief Justice C.E. Hinkson on July 7, 2014.
Comments and Observations of the Chair
2013/2014 was another successful year for our Section. As usual, we had four meetings that were well attended by the members of our Section. We had excellent speakers addressing a variety of topics of interest to our bar, assisting our members in their efforts to stay current on emerging issues and trends in class actions law and practice. We hope our letter submission to The Honourable Chief Justice C.E. Hinkson, detailing several Rules and procedures that adversely affect class action practitioners, will be of use.
Thanks to the CBA for its support!