James Gotowiec

In competing motions to strike pleadings in three related tax appeals concerning dividend rental arrangements, the Appellants moved to strike portions of the Respondent's replies, and the Respondent moved to strike portions of the notices of appeal.

The Tax Court of Canada allowed the Appellants' motion, striking the impugned reply provisions on the basis that they merely restated statutory language without pleading material facts, but granted the Respondent leave to amend.

The Respondent's motion to strike the notices of appeal was denied, as the alternative relief sought by the Appellants was subsumed within the primary issue.

Following directions from the Federal Court of Appeal to reconsider a previous costs award, the Tax Court of Canada reviewed the appellate decisions in the related appeals.

The Court declined to exercise its discretion to vary the original order, confirming the lump sum costs award of $1,197,942 payable by the appellants on a joint and several basis.

The plaintiff sought certification of a class action against four major airlines, alleging a conspiracy to fix prices and suppress the supply of transborder air travel between Canada and the United States.

The court dismissed the certification motion, finding that the pleadings failed to disclose a reasonable cause of action as they contained only bald, unsupported allegations of a conspiracy without material facts.

The court also found no basis in fact for the proposed common issues, noting that the plaintiff's reliance on parallel U.S. litigation regarding domestic travel was insufficient to support a conspiracy in the transborder market.

Furthermore, the plaintiff's expert methodology for calculating class-wide loss was deemed purely hypothetical, and the representative plaintiff was found inadequate as she purchased her ticket using loyalty points rather than directly from the defendants.

The plaintiffs brought a motion to certify a class action against Ticketmaster regarding its secondary ticket market practices.

The plaintiffs alleged that Ticketmaster knowingly facilitated or turned a blind eye to professional resellers using bots and multiple accounts to bypass primary market ticket limits, contrary to its Terms of Use and Purchase Policy.

The court certified the class action for claims of breach of contract, breach of ticketing legislation, unlawful means conspiracy, negligence, and unjust enrichment.

However, the court found that the claims under the Competition Act and consumer protection legislation did not disclose a cause of action because the plaintiffs failed to plead a sufficient causal connection between the alleged misrepresentations and their damages.

The court also dismissed Ticketmaster's motion to strike the plaintiffs' expert reports, finding them admissible and relevant to establishing a methodology for calculating aggregate damages.

This is an appeal from a motion judge's decision dismissing the plaintiffs' motion to amend their pleadings in a class action alleging a multi-bank conspiracy to fix gold and silver prices and engage in 'spoofing'.

The motion judge had found the proposed amendments time-barred or improper for joinder.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding that the motion judge erred in law by treating amendments as new causes of action when they were alternative theories based on existing facts, and by misapplying the 'actual knowledge' standard for limitation periods.

The Court also found a palpable and overriding error in the motion judge's assessment of JP Morgan's joinder, concluding that the CFTC order did not preclude conspiratorial spoofing allegations.

The amendments were allowed, with the possibility for some respondents to plead a limitations defence at trial.

This motion concerned the approval of class counsel fees, disbursements, and a representative plaintiff honorarium following the settlement of two national class proceedings (2012 and 2016 Actions) against various defendants, including Apple Inc., for an alleged eBook price-fixing conspiracy.

The aggregate settlement amount was $15,175,000.

Class Counsel sought $2.7 million in fees (25% of the Apple settlement, adjusted for Quebec) and $43,669.39 in disbursements, plus a $5,000 honorarium for the representative plaintiff.

The court addressed whether the Class Proceedings Act is a complete code for fee approval, the applicability of the Solicitors Act and its regulations regarding costs and disbursements in "all-in" settlements, and the treatment of notional cost contributions and administration costs.

The court found that the Solicitors Act provisions regarding costs and disbursements should apply harmoniously to class proceedings.

It ruled that disbursements should be deducted from the gross settlement amount, and a notional contribution to costs ($500,000) should be applied before calculating counsel fees.

Settlement administration costs were deemed not a disbursement incurred by counsel.

The court approved class counsel fees of $2,450,000 plus taxes, disbursements of $43,669.39 plus taxes, and an honorarium of $2,500 for the representative plaintiff.

The plaintiff brought a motion on consent to certify a class action against Ticketmaster and Live Nation for settlement purposes.

The claim alleged breach of contract, negligence, and statutory breaches arising from the defendants' failure to provide timely refunds for events postponed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court found that the requirements of section 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 were met and certified the action, approving the proposed notices of settlement approval.

The parties made written submissions regarding costs following judgments in several related appeals.

The Appellants sought partial indemnity costs for the appeals in which they were successful, while the Respondent sought substantial indemnity costs.

The Tax Court of Canada awarded lump sum costs in favour of the Respondent fixed at $1,197,942, payable by the Appellants on a joint and several basis, finding that the Respondent was entitled to partial indemnity costs at the mid to high end of the scale due to the degree of overall success, amounts at issue, complexity, and conduct of the parties.

The Appellant established several income funds and arranged for his RRSP Trust to acquire in excess of 99% of the units.

The Minister reassessed the Appellant and the RRSP Trust on the basis that the income funds were not qualified investments, or alternatively, that they were a sham, window dressing, or subject to GAAR.

The Tax Court found that the income funds were not qualified investments because they failed to meet the prescribed conditions for a mutual fund trust, specifically the requirement for a lawful distribution to the public.

The Court also found that the transactions were abusive tax avoidance under GAAR.

However, the Court allowed the appeals in part, finding that the Minister could not assess the same amounts under both subsection 56(2) and subsection 146(10.1), and that the RRSP Trust was entitled to a credit for the value of units issued in exchange for other qualified investments.

The plaintiffs in 17 auto parts price-fixing class actions brought motions for approval of distribution protocols, an order compelling automakers to produce customer information, and approval of honoraria for representative plaintiffs.

The court approved the Omnibus and CVJB Distribution Protocols, finding them fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class.

The court also ordered the automakers to produce the requested customer information pursuant to section 12 of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, and approved modest honoraria for the representative plaintiffs given their long-term commitment to the litigation.

The plaintiffs brought motions for the approval of 12 settlement agreements totaling $22.6 million in various class actions alleging price-fixing in the global automotive parts industry.

The court found that the proposed settlements fell within the 'zone of reasonableness,' as they were generally 8 to 10 percent of the comparable U.S. indirect purchaser settlements.

The court also approved class counsel's request for a 25 percent contingency fee, totaling approximately $5.4 million, plus disbursements, finding the fee presumptively valid and reasonable.

This decision concerns a motion for judicial approval of a class action settlement and class counsel's legal fees in the Body Sealing Products action, part of a larger series of auto parts price-fixing class actions.

The plaintiffs sought approval of a $5.75 million settlement with the Nishikawa defendants, which also included cooperation.

The court found the settlement to be fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class, falling within the established 'zone of reasonableness' benchmarked against U.S. settlements.

Class counsel's request for a 25% contingency fee plus disbursements and taxes was also approved, consistent with prior jurisprudence on class action fee approvals.

The plaintiffs brought a motion for judicial approval of 13 discrete auto part class action settlements with the HIAMS, Mitsuba, NGK, and Sumitomo Riko defendants, totaling approximately $14.8 million.

The court found that each of the proposed settlements fell within a zone of reasonableness, noting that the Canadian settlement amounts were proportionate to related American settlements.

The court also approved class counsel's request for a 25 percent contingency fee, plus disbursements and taxes, finding it presumptively valid.

The plaintiffs in 42 class actions alleging price-fixing in the automotive parts industry sought judicial approval for 15 discrete settlements with Aisan, Bosch, Melco, and Omron defendants, totaling CDN$13,483,524.

The court also considered a motion to discontinue certain actions against Bosch and approved class counsel's contingency fees and disbursements.

The court found the settlements fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class, falling within a zone of reasonableness when compared to related U.S. settlements.

The Court allowed the appeal and held that an Internet service provider may recover reasonable costs required to comply with a Norwich order, but not costs tied to obligations already imposed by the statutory notice and notice regime under ss. 41.25 and 41.26 of the Copyright Act.

Because the record did not permit a proper allocation between recoverable and non-recoverable work, the matter was remitted to the motion judge to determine the reasonable quantum, with Rogers permitted to adduce fresh evidence.

This is the third appeal in a class action arising from the acquisition of London Life by Great-West Life.

The class alleged that participating policy account (PAR) transactions violated the Insurance Companies Act.

The trial judge found breaches and awarded class counsel fees of $16.4 million with a first charge over the $56.43 million returned to PAR accounts, awarded $4 million in partial indemnity costs to the class, and imposed a levy in favour of the Law Foundation of Ontario.

The appellants challenged the class counsel fees, costs award, and levy.

The majority upheld all trial judge decisions, while the dissent argued that no monetary award was made to the class and therefore no charge could attach to the PAR accounts.

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.

Following the dismissal of the plaintiff's motion to convert her individual action into a class proceeding, the successful defendant sought costs of $20,950.77.

The plaintiff argued for a reduced award of $7,500 payable in the cause, asserting the motion was not frivolous and akin to a test case.

The court rejected the plaintiff's argument to make costs payable in the cause, noting the interlocutory motion was purely procedural.

However, the court found the defendant's claimed fees excessive for an interlocutory motion and fixed costs at $15,000 all inclusive.

The plaintiffs moved under Rule 59.06(2)(c) to enforce a prior trial judgment's prohibition against the defendants debiting defence costs from participating accounts.

The defendants had allocated 50% of legal costs to these accounts prior to the judgment without seeking leave.

The court found that the prohibition order, which enjoined the defendants from debiting "any costs or expenses incurred... in the defence of these actions" applied retrospectively to all costs, whenever incurred, and was not merely prospective.

The court rejected the defendants' functus officio argument, affirming its jurisdiction under Rule 59.06(2)(c) to carry its orders into operation.

The defendants were ordered to move for leave to charge the previously allocated legal costs.

The plaintiff, Zheng Lou, brought a two-branched motion: (1) for court approval of a settlement reached with defendant Baomin Yi, and (2) to convert her individual action against London Life Insurance Company into a class action.

The court dismissed the motion for settlement approval, finding no jurisdiction to approve settlements in regular actions.

The court also dismissed the motion to convert the action into a class proceeding, holding that an additional threshold test beyond Rule 26 of the Rules of Civil Procedure must be met for such conversions.

This threshold was not satisfied due to serious limitation period issues, problems with the proposed class definition, common issues, preferable procedure criteria, and the suitability of the plaintiff as a representative.