F. Paul Morrison

This appeal concerns a proposed $2.5 billion class action involving more than 230,000 universal life insurance policies sold by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company between 1985 and 1998.

The plaintiffs alleged misrepresentation in the sale of policies and breach of contractual duties relating to premiums and fees.

The motions judge dismissed the certification motion for misrepresentation claims and initially declined to certify breach of contract claims.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part, certifying the breach of contract common issues and allowing the plaintiffs to pursue individual misrepresentation claims.

The court found the motions judge erred in principle by failing to conduct individualized and contextual analyses of the limitation period defences and by improperly deciding the merits of the breach of contract claims at the certification stage.

The plaintiffs sought judicial approval of two settlement agreements in class actions alleging price-fixing in the automotive parts industry.

The first settlement with T.Rad was for $1,167,452, and the second with S-Y Systems was for $50,000.

The court found both settlements to be fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class, noting they fell within a zone of reasonableness.

The settlements and requested legal fees were approved.

At a case management conference, the plaintiffs sought costs against the defendant condominium corporation for the late production of over 4,600 pages of documents.

The late production necessitated vacating a scheduled mediation and modifying the case management timetable.

The court found that the defendant's breach of the court-ordered timetable resulted in foreseeable delay and wasted costs.

The plaintiffs were awarded $1,500 in costs payable forthwith.

A class action appeal concerning copyright ownership in plans of survey registered or deposited in Ontario's electronic land registry system (ELRS).

The appellant land surveyors claimed that Teranet Inc., which operated the ELRS, infringed their copyright by digitizing, storing, and copying their survey plans.

The motion judge granted summary judgment dismissing the action, finding that copyright in registered or deposited plans belonged to the Province of Ontario under section 12 of the Copyright Act.

The Court of Appeal affirmed this decision, holding that the provincial land registration scheme gave the Crown complete control over registered plans, and that the Crown's publication of those plans through the ELRS occurred under the Crown's direction or control, thereby vesting copyright in the Crown.

The plaintiffs brought an action for condominium deficiencies against the condominium corporation, board members, and the vendor.

Multiple third, fourth, and fifth party claims were subsequently issued, resulting in nineteen parties.

A case management conference was convened to address the scheduling of examinations for discovery and mediation.

To balance the parties' discovery rights with the need for proportionality and cost-efficiency, the court ordered time-limited 'summary' examinations of three hours per witness to take place prior to a mandatory mediation session.

If the matter does not settle at mediation, full examinations will be completed thereafter.

Following the dismissal of the plaintiffs' motion for class certification and the defendant's mixed success on a summary judgment motion, the defendant sought costs of $3.6 million on a substantial indemnity basis.

The plaintiffs argued the award should not exceed $775,000.

The court declined to award substantial indemnity costs, finding no reprehensible conduct by the plaintiffs in pleading misrepresentation.

Considering the defendant's technical loss on the summary judgment motion, which nonetheless provided a strategic victory in defeating certification, the court fixed costs at $1.0 million on a partial indemnity basis as a fair and reasonable amount.

The plaintiffs brought a motion to certify a class action against a life insurance company, alleging breach of contract regarding increases to the cost of insurance and administrative fees for universal life insurance policies.

The court had previously adjourned the motion to allow for further evidence on how the fees were calculated.

After reviewing actuarial evidence, the court found that the insurer had set and adjusted the fees in accordance with the policy terms and industry practice.

Concluding there was no basis in fact for the breach of contract claims, the court dismissed the certification motion in its entirety.

The plaintiffs sought costs of $20,000 after successfully resisting the defendant's motion to amend the reasons for decision in a certification and summary judgment motion.

The defendant argued costs should be reserved or refused as no Bill of Costs was submitted.

The court found the plaintiffs were entitled to reasonable costs for an important motion, fixing the amount at $7,500 all inclusive, payable in any event of the cause.

In a certified class action concerning a copyright dispute, both parties filed motions for summary judgment.

The defendant filed its motion prior to certification, while the plaintiff filed its motion post-certification.

The court held that the plaintiff's post-certification motion should proceed first to ensure the common issues are decided as certified and bind the entire class.

The court also permitted the plaintiff to supplement its motion record with three additional affidavits.

The plaintiffs sought certification of a proposed $2.5 billion class proceeding against an insurer arising from alleged misrepresentations in the sale and administration of universal life insurance policies originally issued by another insurer.

The defendant opposed certification and brought a cross‑motion for summary judgment arguing the representative plaintiffs’ claims were statute‑barred.

The court held that the alleged misrepresentation, deceit, good faith, and rescission claims lacked commonality and largely mirrored deficiencies identified in prior appellate authority concerning insurance misrepresentation class actions.

The court further found most negligent misrepresentation claims were statute‑barred under applicable provincial limitation statutes, while certain breach of contract claims relating to cost‑of‑insurance and administrative fee adjustments were not clearly time‑barred but required further evidentiary development.

Certification was dismissed except that the motion was adjourned to permit further evidence regarding potential breach of contract claims concerning cost‑of‑insurance and administrative fee calculations.

The plaintiffs brought an unsuccessful refusals motion in a proposed class action.

The successful defendant sought $30,000 in costs on a partial indemnity basis.

The plaintiffs argued the amount was excessive for an uncomplicated motion and suggested $5,000.

The court found the motion was important and vigorously contested, but agreed the defendant's claim was excessive.

Costs were fixed at $18,000 payable to the defendant in any event of the certification motion.

In a proposed class action alleging negligent, reckless, and fraudulent misrepresentations in the sale and administration of universal life insurance policies, the plaintiffs brought a refusals motion arising from cross-examinations on affidavits filed for certification and a summary judgment motion on limitations.

The court held that the moving parties had not shown the relevance of broad document requests and questions tied to the insurer's separate indemnity litigation, and that much of the requested material had already been produced or was unnecessary for the pending motions.

The court further held that questions about the selection and preparation of former sales agent witnesses were protected by litigation privilege.

The refusals motion was dismissed.

The respondent, Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), brought a motion to strike the applicant's application for declaratory relief, arguing that as a non-corporate statutory entity, it lacked the capacity to be sued.

The court dismissed the motion, distinguishing prior case law that barred actions for damages against FSCO.

The court held that because the applicant sought declaratory relief rather than damages, the application could proceed.

In a proposed class action against an insurer, the court addressed procedural directions for the hearing of a certification motion and a defendant’s summary judgment motion.

The plaintiffs sought a further and better affidavit of documents before the summary judgment motion, arguing procedural unfairness.

The court held that there was no automatic entitlement to an affidavit of documents at this stage and emphasized proportionality principles and the court’s discretion under s. 12 of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992.

The court directed that no affidavits of documents were required and restricted the defendant’s summary judgment motion to limitation period defences against the proposed representative plaintiffs.

The certification motion and the focused summary judgment motion were ordered to be heard together with a revised timetable.

The plaintiff appealed the dismissal of its motion to certify a class action against the defendant, which manages Ontario's electronic land registry system.

The proposed class action alleged that the defendant's database constituted copyright infringement of plans of survey.

On appeal, the plaintiff recast its case by revising the class definition and common issues.

The Divisional Court allowed the appeal, finding that the plaintiff could recast its case absent non-compensable prejudice to the defendant.

The court held that the motion judge erred in requiring evidence that two or more persons were desirous of pursuing the claim to satisfy the identifiable class criterion.

The revised class definition and common issues met the certification criteria under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992.

The plaintiff sought to certify a class action against the Dow defendants for an alleged price-fixing conspiracy in the market for polyether polyol products.

The court reviewed the requirements for certification under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, in light of recent Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence on indirect purchaser claims.

The court found that the pleadings disclosed a cause of action, there was an identifiable class, common issues existed with a plausible methodology for proving class-wide loss, a class action was the preferable procedure, and the plaintiff was a suitable representative.

The motion for certification was granted.

During a Commercial List proceeding involving cross-applications between a technology services provider and a provincial agency, the court conducted a case conference addressing litigation management issues.

The court reviewed the parties’ progress under an agreed Litigation Plan, including pleadings exchange and initial documentary production consisting of thousands of documents.

The parties were directed to exchange annotated production requests identifying disputed categories and to meet to resolve disagreements.

A further case conference was scheduled to address remaining production disputes.

The court also encouraged the parties to organize disputed issues chronologically to clarify the technically interrelated events underlying the dispute.

During a Commercial List proceeding involving cross-applications between a technology services provider and a provincial agency, the court conducted a case conference addressing litigation management issues.

The court reviewed the parties’ progress under an agreed Litigation Plan, including pleadings exchange and initial documentary production consisting of thousands of documents.

The parties were directed to exchange annotated production requests identifying disputed categories and to meet to resolve disagreements.

A further case conference was scheduled to address remaining production disputes.

The court also encouraged the parties to organize disputed issues chronologically to clarify the technically interrelated events underlying the dispute.

Competing applications were brought concerning whether a contractual dispute arising from the termination of an agreement to design and build a diabetes registry should proceed by arbitration or litigation.

One party sought appointment of an arbitrator pursuant to the dispute resolution clause in the agreement, while the other sought to have the dispute determined through litigation in the Superior Court and consolidated with related defamation proceedings.

Before hearing the applications, the court proposed procedural options, and the parties agreed to proceed with litigation in the Superior Court under case management with an expedited trial schedule.

The applications were adjourned to a case conference to establish a litigation plan, and related defamation actions were transferred to the Commercial List for coordinated management.

Competing applications were brought concerning whether a contractual dispute arising from the termination of an agreement to design and build a diabetes registry should proceed by arbitration or litigation.

One party sought appointment of an arbitrator pursuant to the dispute resolution clause in the agreement, while the other sought to have the dispute determined through litigation in the Superior Court and consolidated with related defamation proceedings.

Before hearing the applications, the court proposed procedural options, and the parties agreed to proceed with litigation in the Superior Court under case management with an expedited trial schedule.

The applications were adjourned to a case conference to establish a litigation plan, and related defamation actions were transferred to the Commercial List for coordinated management.