Craig Lockwood Craig Lockwood

The limits of class actions: Systemic negligence claim is unmanageable

Promoting access to justice is one of the primary objectives of class actions. However, sometimes a class action sacrifices justice and would deny...

Ontario court refuses to certify negligence class action against underwriters

In its recent decision in LBP Holdings Ltd. v Hycroft Mining Corporation, 2017 ONSC 6342, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a motion to...

Too many men on the ice – court imposes cost consequences on “over-pleaded” class action

Justice Perell’s costs decision in Berg v. Canadian Hockey League, 2017 ONSC 5382 is a stern warning that, in certification motions,...

Ontario Court says auditor is liable to “its client’s clients” for investment losses

In the recent decision of Lavender v. Miller Bernstein, Justice Belobaba writing for the Ontario Superior Court found an auditor liable for the...

OSC releases long-awaited decision in Sino-Forest case

Six years after short seller Muddy Waters issued a report damning Sino-Forest Corporation as a fraud and a Ponzi scheme, the Ontario Securities...

Ontario Court refuses to convert individual action into class proceeding

In its recent decision in Lou v London Life Insurance Company, 2017 ONSC 4188, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a motion to convert an...

Wellman v. TELUS: Ontario Court of Appeal clarifies the impact of arbitration clauses on class proceedings

In Wellman v. TELUS Communications Company, 2017 ONCA 433, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal of an order denying a motion to partially...

Ontario court stick handles around “excessively over-pleaded” class action

A class action will not be certified unless it is a fair, efficient and manageable way to resolve proposed common issues. That principle was recently...

Cold Shoulder: BC Court Denies Certification Finding No “Identifiable Class”

A recent decision by the British Columbia Supreme Court denying class certification illustrates the Court’s continued insistence on the...

Who is a Consumer? Consumer Protection Claims Where Consumers Cannot be “Objectively” Identified

A developing line of British Columbia certification decisions provides a strong basis to resist certification of consumer protection claims where the...