Certified: Class Actions in Ontario & Beyond

Robert Sharpe, recently-retired justice of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, talks about his landmark judgment in Jones v Tsige, 2012 ONCA 32, which recognized the tort of intrusion upon seclusion. He discusses the evolution of privacy law in Ontario since that judgment, specifically in the context of class actions, and predicts what the future might hold.

Naomi Loewith & Pierre-Jerome Bouchard of Omni Bridgeway discuss third-party litigation funding in this second episode on the subject, which takes a deeper dive into the various models, the ethical issues involved, and the future of litigation funding in Canada.

Jeremy Martin talks about his class action practice at Cassels Brock, and gives a view of products liability and consumer cases from the defendant's perspective. Crisis management, damage control, and preventing a potential class action are all in a day's work.

Golnaz Nayerahmadi, partner at Rochon Genova, discusses the human rights class actions with which she has been involved. She has travelled the globe to meet with victims and witnesses, and contended with complex issues of jurisdiction, conflicts of law, international law, and corporate and Crown liability.

Katherine Kay, a partner at Stikemans, discusses the evolving jurisprudence in securities and competition law class actions. In a lively and forthright interview, she also considers the extent to which these class actions compensate class members and/or modify the behaviour of defendants.

Glenn Zakaib, national co-chair of the Class Actions Group at BLG, discusses the challenges inherent in multi-jurisdictional class actions and how courts, litigators and legislators have attempted to overcome them as class proceedings have spread across Canada.

Remissa Hirji, Associate Counsel to the Class Proceedings Committee, and Emilie Maxwell, Investment Manager at Augusta Ventures, discuss litigation funding in class actions. How can litigation funding support access to justice? What is the process and mechanism for securing and maintaining litigation funding? How do funders and lawyers address any ethical pitfalls? This episode looks at an emerging and exciting area that provides a key component to the future of class actions.

Justice Edward Belobaba, one of the class action judges at the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto, discusses settlement and fee approval as well as the recent changes to the Ontario Class Proceedings Act. This frank and engaging interview reveals His Honour's passion for access to justice and protecting the interests of class members.

Cheryl Woodin, Partner and Co-Head of the Class Actions Practice at Bennett Jones, discusses the various forms of relief in class actions - including aggregate damages (and the distribution of those damages), punitive damages, waiver of tort, restitution, and declaratory and injunctive relief.

Nicole Henderson discusses her experience on the St Jude class action trial, including the discovery process beforehand, coordinating with parallel US proceedings, use of expert witnesses, and how St Jude paved the way for the technological changes we're seeing in our civil justice system today.