Class actions are still booming, with a seemingly never-ending list of new cases attracting media attention. Despite the increased focus on class action litigation, the perennial problems surrounding national class actions, class counsel fees and financing and ethical issues and conflicts remain. In addition, new trends are surfacing in price-fixing class actions, the changing situation in Québec and the questions surrounding conducting class actions trials, as litigators and judges are gradually getting some insights into how these trials actually work.

Canada’s premier forum for class actions debate brings together leaders from both sides of the bar as well as experienced judges and academics to share and explain the strategies and tactics at play in this form of high-stakes litigation. Through lively panel discussions, they will critically examine today’s hot-button issues, and guide you through the many complexities of class actions litigation. Topics include:

• The top 10 class actions decisions of the past year
• The class actions trial: how does it work?
• Discovery strategies and tactics
• Class counsel fees and financing
• Searching for a solution to the national classes conundrum
• Certifying the price-fixing cases: a brave new world?
• The situation in Québec: where do we stand now?
• Settlement strategies and issues
• Avoiding ethical traps
• Debunking class actions myths: plaintiff and defence counsel have their say

Hear from a faculty of over 30 top experts, including:

The Hon. Justice James P. Adams
Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador
The Hon. Chief Justice Robert Bauman, Supreme Court of British Columbia
The Hon. Justice Catherine L. Dawson
Court of Queen’s Bench of Saskatchewan
The Hon. Judge D. Brock Hornby,
U.S. District Judge, District of Maine,Portland ME
The Hon. Justice Louis Lacoursière, Superior Court of Québec
The Hon. Justice Joan L. Lax, Ontario Superior Court of Justice
The Hon. Justice Paul M. Perell, Ontario Superior Court of Justice
The Hon. Justice André Prévost, Superior Court of Québec
The Hon. Justice George R. Strathy, Ontario Superior Court of Justice

The members of the Class Actions Planning Committee are:

Kirk Baert, Koskie Minsky LLP
Ward K. Branch, Branch MacMaster, Vancouver
The Hon. Justice Peter Cumming, Ontario Superior Court of Justice
Adrian C. Lang, Stikeman Elliott LLP
Gordon McKee, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Garry D. Watson, Q.C., Professor Emeritus, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Charles M. Wright, Siskinds LLP, London

OPD Program Lawyer

David Thomas

dthomas@osgoode.yorku.ca