David T. Neave

The plaintiff, Dr. Darryl Gebien, sought court approval for a Third-Party Funding Agreement with Omni Bridgeway Ltd. for a proposed class action against numerous pharmaceutical companies regarding the opioid crisis.

Several defendants objected to specific provisions of the agreement, including those related to amendments, assignments, attornment, costs enforcement, termination procedures, accrued costs, and confidentiality.

The court found that while the agreement generally met the requirements for approval, several of the defendants' objections, particularly concerning comprehensive attornment by Omni Bridgeway Ltd. and the broad confidentiality provisions, were "genuinely meaningful" and required resolution.

The motion for approval was adjourned to allow the parties to address these issues, with the court emphasizing that it is not its role to draft the agreement.

The defendant, First Data Canada Ltd. ("FD"), brought a motion for leave to amend its Third Party Claim against Vantiv Integrated Payments entities ("Vantiv").

The proposed amendments included new allegations regarding Vantiv's use of an incorrect merchant ID number and an alleged agency relationship between the plaintiff and Vantiv.

Vantiv opposed, arguing the amendments introduced new, statute-barred causes of action.

The court applied the principles for amending pleadings, emphasizing a generous, factually-oriented approach.

It found that the proposed amendments were additional facts supporting the original negligence claim and part of the same factual matrix, rather than new causes of action, even if some allegations were inconsistent with the original claim.

Leave was granted in part, allowing the amendments related to the merchant ID and agency, but requiring FD to address inconsistent allegations.

This is a timetable endorsement setting out the agreed-upon schedule for a motion.

The endorsement details the deadlines for serving motion records, responding motion records, completing cross-examinations, delivering factums, and the dates for the motion hearing.

The plaintiff, Jooli Park, brought a motion for certification of a class action against Samyang Foods Co. for settlement purposes, approval of a settlement agreement with Samyang, dismissal of the action against the non-settling defendants (Nongshim, Ottogi, Korea Yakult, and Paldo), approval of class counsel fees and disbursements, payment of an honorarium to Park, and cy-près distribution of remaining settlement funds.

The court granted all requested relief except for the honorarium to Park, finding that her contributions were not exceptional enough to warrant it.

The settlement with Samyang was approved, and the action against the non-settling defendants was dismissed without costs, considering the increased litigation risks after an unsuccessful jury trial in a related US class action.