Publications

September 15, 2016

Roaming fees: a long and winding road

On August 10, 2016, the Québec Court of Appeal authorized a class action pertaining to international roaming fees, thus reiterating, with renewed respect for the opposing view, that meeting the authorization threshold and the criteria respecting the representative’s interest is fairly easy under (…)

February 5, 2016

The warranty of fitness for purpose in consumer law – Court of Appeal judgment

 This publication was co-authored by Luc Thibaudeau, former partner of Lavery and now judge in the Civil Division of the Court of Québec, District of Longueuil. Lavery is closely monitoring developments in consumer class actions and, in order to keep the business sector informed on the subject, (…)

November 6, 2015

Consumer law and class actions: Beware of unilateral amendments to contracts involving sequential performance

 This publication was co-authored by Luc Thibaudeau, former partner of Lavery and now judge in the Civil Division of the Court of Québec, District of Longueuil. Lavery closely monitors new developments in consumer law class actions and is committed to keeping the business community informed of the (…)

June 10, 2015

Historic Quebec lawsuit against tobacco companies: The Superior Court awards more than $15 billion in damages

In a decisive victory for the Plaintiffs in class actions against the three Canadian leading tobacco companies1, the Québec Superior Court ordered the Defendants to pay more than 15 billion dollars in moral damages2 and punitive damages. There were more than 253 hearing days3 and 16 years of (…)

September 22, 2014

Class Actions : The Conversion Rate Tale Reaches it's Final Chapter

This publication was authored by Luc Thibaudeau, former partner of Lavery and now judge in the Civil Division of the Court of Québec, District of Longueuil. On September 19, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its ruling in the so called “banks’ cases”1, in the context of which consumers (…)

March 1, 2014

The Theratechnologies Case

On February 20, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada allowed the motion for leave to appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Québec rendered in the case of Theratechnologies inc. v. 121851 Canada Inc.1. In this unanimous judgment, the Court of Appeal decided that a judgment authorizing a class (…)

March 1, 2014

Reform of the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure – The new class action

On February 20, 2014, the Quebec National Assembly passed Bill 28, An Act to establish the new Code of Civil Procedure.This is a watershed moment in a process that began in 2003 and was the subject of a review by the Minister of Justice in 2006. Notably, promoting cooperation by the parties on the (…)

January 1, 2014

Pension Plans and Class Actions: the Vivendi case

On January 16, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada1 affirmed the Court of Appeal of Québec2 judgment which authorized the class action brought against Vivendi Canada Inc. (“Vivendi”). This important decision confirms, among other things, that the rules for authorizing class actions in (…)

December 1, 2013

The Supreme Court of Canada Rules on Market Timing in the Context of a Class-action Suit

Facts and judicial historyThe Supreme Court of Canada has rendered a decision which is likely to generate a lot of commentary in the Canadian class action scene. On December 12, 2013, the Court issued a ruling in the case of AIC Limited v. Fischer1 (hereinafter 'Fischer'), now frequently referred to (…)

November 1, 2013

Class Actions: The Supreme Court of Canada addresses the issue of indirect purchasers and the jurisdiction of the Quebec courts over contracts formed at a distance

On October 31, 2013, the Supreme Court rendered three judgments with respect to class actions at the authorization or certification stage, one from the Province of Quebec1 and the other two from the Province of British Columbia.2In all three cases, the facts raised issues with respect to the price (…)

August 1, 2013

An unprecedented decision of the Court of Appeal: a judgment authorizing a class action under the Securities Act may be appealed

INTRODUCTIONOn July 17, 2013, the Court of Appeal issued an unprecedented judgment in Quebec in the case of Theratechnologies inc. v. 121851 Canada inc.1 Justice Clément Gascon, writing for the court, held, in a unanimous decision, that a judgment having authorized a class action for damages under (…)

July 1, 2013

Failure to comply with the provisions of the Regulation respecting the application of the Consumer Protection Act dealing with notices of forfeiture of the benefit of the term

Although non-compliance with the Consumer Protection Act (the “CPA”) is generally sanctioned by the nullity of the CPA non-compliant clauses, or of the contract in its entirety, in cases involving written notices of forfeiture of the benefit of the term, the courts have sometimes decided (…)

March 1, 2013

The Court of Appeal confirms that the policyholder and the insurer may agree to modify the provisions of a group insurance contract without consulting the participants

The decision of the Court of Appeal in the La Capitale case has been expected since February 2012 when the Superior Court dismissed the class action taken against an insurer who, with the consent of the policyholder, had unilaterally modified the waiver of premiums clause in a group insurance (…)