Vincent de l’Ėtoile

The plaintiffs in a class action sought court approval for a settlement reached with one defendant, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Québec, for $9.9 million, and for Class Counsel's fees and disbursements.

The court reviewed the settlement against factors for fairness, reasonableness, and best interests of the class, and also assessed the reasonableness of the requested fees based on risk and results.

The settlement and fee request were approved, marking the fourth settlement in this ongoing class action.

Following a prior decision approving class counsel fees in a class proceeding settlement, class counsel sought clarification regarding the calculation of the fee award, treatment of consulting law firm fees, application of taxes, and comments regarding disclosure of a fee sharing agreement.

The court acknowledged that an arithmetic error had occurred in the original calculation and corrected the award by applying a 10% reduction to the claimed counsel fee before adding disbursements.

The court clarified that consulting law firms were to be paid from the approved counsel fee rather than treated as additional disbursements and confirmed that applicable taxes were payable in addition to the approved amount.

The court also addressed concerns about disclosure of the fee sharing agreement, reiterating that failure to fully disclose the agreement’s substance was a mistake despite counsel’s intentions.