Michael G. Robb

Class counsel brought a motion for approval of their legal fees and disbursements following the settlement of a securities class proceeding for $29.5 million.

Counsel sought $5.9 million in fees based on a contingency agreement.

The court reviewed the factors for approving class counsel fees, noting the early settlement and the high hourly rates docketed.

The court reduced the requested fee, approving $2.775 million plus HST as fair and reasonable compensation for the risk assumed and results achieved, along with full recovery of disbursements.

The plaintiff moved for approval of a $29.5 million settlement in a securities class action against the defendants for alleged misrepresentations in continuous disclosure documents regarding mortgage origination practices.

The settlement also resolved a companion Ontario Securities Commission proceeding.

The court found the settlement fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class, noting the significant litigation risks, the complex damages calculations, and the immediate business implications for the corporate defendant.

The court also approved the Distribution Protocol, Notice Plan, and Claim Form, with minor modifications to extend the deficiency rectification period.

The offender pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm at his common-law spouse's face during a domestic dispute, possession of a firearm while prohibited, possession of a loaded prohibited firearm, possession of Oxycodone, and breach of probation.

The offence occurred in the presence of a two-year-old child and resulted in a four-hour police standoff.

The court imposed an exemplary sentence emphasizing denunciation and deterrence, with a global sentence of four years (three years for pointing the firearm, one year consecutive for possession while prohibited, and two years consecutive for possession of a loaded prohibited firearm), less enhanced pre-sentence custody credit.

A lifetime firearms prohibition was imposed.

Following an omnibus motion in a secondary market securities class action, the defendants sought costs payable forthwith.

The plaintiffs and one co-defendant argued for costs in the cause.

The court ordered costs in the cause, noting that the omnibus motion involved novel legal issues and was part of the fabric of the whole litigation, making it fairest that the ultimate victor in the action receive the costs.

This decision addresses eight motions in a billion-dollar secondary market securities class action.

The court granted motions by SNC-Lavalin and its Outside Directors to strike paragraphs from the Plaintiffs' Amended Reply and dismissed the Plaintiffs' motion to deliver a Fresh as Amended Reply, finding that the Plaintiffs were attempting to plead a new, uncapped liability claim without leave and reintroduce previously rejected allegations of bribery in Libya.

The court also granted motions by the Outside Directors and Michael Novak to strike paragraphs from Riadh Ben Aïssa's Statement of Defence, which similarly attempted to introduce allegations of bribery in Libya and knowledge against co-defendants beyond the scope of the granted leave.

Additionally, the court granted protective orders for the examinations for discovery of Messrs.

Ben Aïssa, Duhaime, and Roy, who faced criminal charges, to protect their Charter rights and the integrity of criminal proceedings, but denied requests to stay or postpone discoveries.

The accused brought a Charter application challenging the lawfulness of a detention and search conducted by police officers executing a search warrant at a residence.

The court found that while the investigative detention was lawful, the subsequent search for officer safety was unlawful as it was conducted as a matter of routine practice without reasonable grounds to believe the officer's safety was at risk.

The court excluded the evidence obtained from the unlawful search under the Charter, finding that admission would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

The charges were dismissed.

The defendant, charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, applied to re-open a voir dire concerning the reasonable and probable grounds for her arrest and sought disclosure of a Confidential Informant's (CI) handler notes.

The application was based on recently disclosed CI notes and arguments regarding CI handling protocols and the CI's status as a material witness.

The court dismissed the application, finding no new significant evidence to cast doubt on the CI's reliability or to justify re-opening the voir dire or disclosing the CI's identity under the innocence at stake exception.

The plaintiffs brought a motion to approve the settlement of a securities misrepresentation class action against Canada Lithium Corp. and its directors and officers.

The corporate defendant had become insolvent and the only remaining asset was a wasting directors and officers insurance policy.

The parties agreed to settle the action for $400,000, which would be paid entirely to class counsel for fees and disbursements, with no distribution to class members.

The court approved the settlement and the fee request, finding that further litigation would only deplete the insurance policy and that the settlement was fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class under the circumstances.

The appellants commenced a proposed class action for damages for misrepresentations in a takeover bid circular under s. 131(1) of the Securities Act.

The motion judge ruled that plaintiffs must elect whether to sue the offeror or its directors/signatories, and that secondary market sellers could not rely on s. 131(1).

On appeal, the Court of Appeal held that s. 131(1) allows a plaintiff to sue both the offeror and its directors/signatories for damages.

However, the Court upheld the ruling that secondary market sellers cannot assert a claim under s. 131(1), as they must rely on the statutory cause of action in Part XXIII.1.

Two competing plaintiffs, Kowalyshyn and O'Brien, brought a carriage motion to determine who would represent the class in a securities misrepresentation class action against Valeant Pharmaceuticals and others.

The proposed class actions alleged that Valeant misrepresented its financial results and business practices, causing billions in losses to investors.

The court analyzed 16 carriage factors, finding most to be neutral or non-determinative.

However, the court found that the interrelationship of class actions in multiple jurisdictions strongly favoured Kowalyshyn.

O'Brien's action was closely tied to a parallel action in Quebec, and the court viewed her Ontario action as a surrogate attempt to stay Kowalyshyn's action indirectly.

The court granted carriage to Kowalyshyn and temporarily stayed O'Brien's action.

The defendant corporation moved for leave to appeal a decision granting the plaintiff leave to commence a secondary market securities misrepresentation action against it.

The motion judge had dismissed the action against the individual directors and officers, finding they established a reasonable investigation defence, but allowed the action against the corporation to proceed based on a restatement of financial results.

The Divisional Court granted leave to appeal, finding good reason to doubt the correctness of the motion judge's order because the corporate identification doctrine suggests the corporation should also benefit from the reasonable investigation defence established by its directing minds.

The accused, Charles Clayton Logan and Beverly Anne Knight, were charged with four criminal offences, including possession of hydromorphone for trafficking, possession of a prohibited weapon, and breaches of recognizance.

During the trial, one count was stayed, and the Crown conceded that Ms. Knight should be found not guilty on the trafficking charge.

The court also found reasonable doubt regarding Mr. Logan's breach of recognizance for residency.

The remaining issues focused on Mr. Logan's control and knowledge of the drugs and whether the quantity and dosage were consistent with trafficking.

The court found Mr. Logan guilty of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one count of breach of recognizance, while Ms. Knight was found not guilty of all charges.

The accused was arrested without a warrant for possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking based on information provided by a confidential informant.

Following her arrest, she handed over methamphetamine to police.

The accused brought a Charter application to exclude the evidence, arguing the arrest lacked reasonable and probable grounds.

The court dismissed the application, finding the informant's tip was sufficiently reliable and detailed to provide reasonable and probable grounds for the arrest.

The court further held that even if the arrest was unlawful, the evidence would not be excluded under section 24(2) of the Charter.

The plaintiffs in a certified securities class action sought judicial approval of a $17 million settlement and class counsel's legal fees of approximately $4.1 million.

The court expressed concern over the use of boiler-plate affidavits in settlement approvals and required class counsel to provide supplementary evidence demonstrating that the settlement amount fell within a zone of reasonableness.

After reviewing the additional information regarding litigation risks and damages ranges, the court found the settlement to be in the best interests of the class and approved both the settlement and the requested legal fees.

The plaintiff sought to certify a securities class action against BlackBerry and its former executives for alleged misrepresentations in financial statements relating to smartphone revenue recognition.

The defendants did not oppose certification except regarding the inclusion of Nasdaq purchasers in a 'global class'.

The court certified the class action for TSX purchasers, finding the requirements of s. 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act were met, and adjourned the 'global class' issue to be determined on a future forum non conveniens motion.

The Court addressed three securities class action appeals on whether limitation periods for statutory secondary-market misrepresentation claims are suspended before leave is granted, and on related nunc pro tunc, special circumstances, leave-threshold, and certification issues.

The CIBC and IMAX appeals were dismissed, while the Celestica appeal was allowed.

The plaintiff sought leave under s. 138.8 of the Securities Act to pursue a statutory secondary market misrepresentation claim arising from the defendant issuer’s accounting treatment of smartphone sales.

The motion concerned whether the issuer’s use of sell‑in revenue recognition for a newly launched product violated GAAP and whether a later news release constituted a public correction of the alleged misrepresentation.

The court held that the plaintiff had presented credible expert evidence establishing a reasonable possibility that the accounting treatment materially misstated revenues.

The court further articulated principles governing the “public correction” requirement under s. 138.3 and concluded that the issuer’s subsequent disclosure of a shift to sell‑through accounting and a large inventory charge was reasonably capable of revealing the alleged earlier misrepresentation.

Leave to proceed with the statutory claim was therefore granted.

The plaintiff sought leave under s. 138.8 of the Securities Act to pursue a secondary market misrepresentation class action arising from a mining company’s public restatement of prior financial statements related to “bill and hold” revenue recognition.

The court held that the explicit restatement acknowledging prior errors and internal control weaknesses created a reasonable possibility that the claim against the issuer could succeed at trial.

However, the individual officers and directors demonstrated a reasonable investigation defence through detailed evidence of their reliance on professional auditors and careful review of revenue recognition practices.

As a result, the statutory leave requirement was satisfied only as against the issuer company.

Leave was refused against the individual defendants.

The accused, jointly charged with unlawful confinement and aggravated assault, brought applications to sever counts on the indictment.

One accused was additionally charged with attempted murder and several counts of possession of controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking.

The accused argued that trying the drug charges together with the violent offences would cause severe prejudice and propensity reasoning.

The court dismissed the applications, finding that the drug charges provided the context and motive for the violent offences, as the victim was a competing drug dealer.

The court held that the interests of justice favoured a single trial, and any potential prejudice could be addressed through proper jury instructions.

The Crown applied to remove defence counsel due to a conflict of interest after the same lawyer had represented both an accused and a key Crown witness who later provided incriminating statements.

The accused sought a stay of proceedings or exclusion of the witness’s evidence under ss. 7 and 11(d) of the Charter, arguing police inducements and delayed disclosure compromised their fair trial rights.

The court found that while police comments undermining the witness’s confidence in her lawyer were inappropriate, the accused could not rely on alleged Charter breaches affecting the witness, and no actual prejudice to their ability to make full answer and defence was established.

The court declined to grant a stay or exclude the witness’s evidence but held the conflict required removal of counsel.

The accused would need to obtain new counsel and a new trial date.