David Conklin

The plaintiffs brought a motion to approve a $125 million settlement in a class action against a major bank for secondary market misrepresentation related to subprime mortgage investments.

The plaintiffs also sought approval of class counsel fees of $37.5 million, representing a 30% contingency fee.

The court found the settlement to be fair and reasonable, noting the significant litigation risks the plaintiffs faced, including a due diligence defence and challenges to damages calculations.

The court also approved the requested counsel fees, emphasizing the substantial risk undertaken by class counsel over 14 years of litigation and the excellent result achieved for the class.

The plaintiffs in a class action against Kew Media Group Inc. and several individual defendants sought consent orders to streamline the litigation.

The corporate defendant was in insolvency proceedings with a stay in place.

The plaintiffs agreed to discontinue the action against five individual defendants, hold the case in abeyance against two others, and toll applicable limitation periods.

The court granted the consent orders for discontinuance, leave to proceed under the Securities Act, and certification under the Class Proceedings Act against the remaining individual defendants, finding the agreements made the case more efficient without adversely affecting class members.

The plaintiffs in a proposed securities class action brought a motion for approval of a third-party Adverse Costs Indemnity and Funding Agreement with Camac Partners LLC.

The agreement provided up to $800,000 in adverse costs indemnity and $125,000 in disbursement funding in exchange for 10% of the net recovery, capped at $4 million.

The defendants did not oppose the motion.

The court approved the agreement, finding its terms fair, reasonable, and necessary to provide access to justice for the plaintiffs and the proposed class.

The plaintiffs sought leave under s. 138.8 of the Securities Act and certification under the Class Proceedings Act for a proposed securities class action.

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants misrepresented the company's ability to maintain its dividend, causing shareholders and debenture-holders to sustain losses when the dividend was cut.

The court dismissed the leave motion, finding no reasonable possibility that the secondary market misrepresentation claims would succeed at trial, as the defendants' statements were based on a genuine belief in their growth strategy at the time.

The court also dismissed the certification motion, holding that a class proceeding was not the preferable procedure for the remaining common law negligent misrepresentation claims, which require individualized proof of reliance.

Former directors, officers, and consultants of Look Communications Inc. sought interim advancement of their legal fees to defend against an action brought by Look alleging breach of fiduciary duty regarding bonus and equity cancellation payments.

The court held that s. 124(4) of the CBCA applies to actions brought directly by the corporation, requiring court approval for advancement.

The court found Look established a strong prima facie case of mala fides against the directors and officers, rebutting the presumption of good faith.

Advancement was denied for all applicants except one employee, Dolgonos, whose entitlement arose under an indemnity agreement not subject to s. 124(4).

The plaintiffs sought leave under s. 138.3 of the Securities Act and certification under the Class Proceedings Act to pursue a class action against CIBC and its senior officers for alleged secondary market misrepresentations concerning CIBC's exposure to the U.S. residential mortgage market.

The court found that the plaintiffs met the test for leave and certification for the statutory claim.

However, applying the Court of Appeal's recent decision in Sharma v. Timminco Limited, the court held that the statutory claim was time-barred because leave was not obtained within the three-year limitation period under s. 138.14 of the Securities Act.

Consequently, both motions were dismissed.