Robin Linley

The plaintiffs brought a motion for court approval to discontinue a proposed products liability class action concerning 'Physiomesh', a surgical mesh manufactured by the defendants.

The discontinuance was sought to implement a settlement scheme for individual claims.

The court found that the discontinuance was not brought for an improper purpose and would not prejudice putative class members, as the limitation period suspension would continue for 90 days after notice.

The court approved the discontinuance, finding it beneficial for settling claimants and in their best interests.

The plaintiffs brought a motion for approval of a $15.5 million settlement in a class action concerning defective metal-on-metal hip implants.

The settlement provides compensation for class members who underwent premature revision surgery, medically precluded claimants, and family members with derivative claims.

The court approved the settlement as fair and reasonable, noting it compares favourably to similar settlements in other jurisdictions.

The court also approved class counsel's 30% contingency fee and awarded $10,000 honoraria to the lead representative plaintiffs for their extensive contributions over 11 years of litigation.

The plaintiffs brought a motion to certify a class action against the manufacturers and marketers of the antipsychotic drugs Abilify and Abilify Maintena, alleging negligence, failure to warn, and conspiracy regarding the risk of impulse control disorders.

The defendants opposed certification and brought a motion to stay the proceeding as an abuse of process, citing a parallel authorized class action in Québec.

The court found that the plaintiffs met all the criteria for certification under section 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, including establishing a plausible methodology for proving general causation.

The court dismissed the defendants' stay motion, finding that the Ontario action was not an abuse of process despite the last-minute amendments to the Québec claim that mirrored the Ontario pleading.

The parties appeared before the court to advise that the contested issue of carriage had been resolved by consent.

The court approved an agreed-upon schedule for the proceedings leading up to a certification motion and potential jurisdiction motions, including deadlines for the production of medical and gambling records, delivery of materials, cross-examinations, and factums.

In a certified class proceeding concerning allegedly defective hip implants, the court addressed issues relating to notice to class members and the identification of potential class members.

The court ordered the defendants to make reasonable efforts to locate names and addresses of implant class members contained in product adverse event reports and other related sources where the information was available and the province of residence was not British Columbia or Quebec.

However, the court declined to require an extensive manual internal review of all potential incident reports, finding such a requirement would be disproportionately burdensome and would not materially improve the notice program.

The court also determined the proper title for the certification notice and class counsel’s website, concluding that inclusion of the manufacturer’s name alongside the product identifier was reasonably necessary to inform the intended class.

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.