Class Actions
McLennan Ross has been involved in class action litigation in Alberta for many years, even before the proclamation of the Alberta Class Proceedings Act. The firm also has extensive experience in dealing with national class actions, as well as class actions brought in other jurisdictions including British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario.Class action litigation clients of the firm include individuals and businesses of all sizes with the firm acting for both plaintiffs and defendants. McLennan Ross legal professionals have experience in dealing with class actions in a wide range of areas, including: - Securities issues
- Product liability
- Oil and gas
- Auditor / accountant liability
- Insurance issues, and
- Defending the payday loans industry
While pursuing class action litigation aggressively and thoroughly in pursuit of our clients' interests, McLennan Ross legal professionals also recognize the benefits of alternative dispute resolution approaches, and the fact that business issues often impact the way in which litigation must be conducted. Our legal professionals will therefore constantly search for ways to secure favourable results for our clients at a reasonable cost, and are flexible in the way in which the litigation is conducted in order to adapt legal strategies to match our clients' business needs. McLennan Ross Class Action Transactions & Cases Akhtar v. MacGillivray This action was brought as a class action against the Alberta Securities Commission and an audit firm in connection with the failure of a mortgage loan company. We successfully applied to have the class action struck and successfully defended the matter at trial, together with counsel from Alberta Justice representing the ASC. Alberta Pork Producers et al v. Swift Canadian Co. Ltd. et al This class action was brought on behalf of the Alberta hog producers against a group of national meat packers. It was alleged that the packers had acted in a conspiracy to lessen competition and keep hog prices low. We acted for one of the defendant meat packers in settling the litigation and in securing Court approval of the settlement. Anderson v. Pan-Alberta Gas / NOVA This action was brought on behalf of large gas producers against Pan-Alberta Gas, a subsidiary of NOVA. The allegation was a breach of fiduciary duty on behalf of Pan-Alberta Gas, a gas aggregator, and damages claimed were in the tens of millions of dollars. On behalf of the defendant, Pan-Alberta Gas, we successfully applied to have the action converted into a class action, over the objections of the plaintiffs. The action was settled shortly after this application. Betthel et al v. Lord Conrad Black A class action brought in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec, alleging that Lord Black and Hollinger engaged in a number of transactions which were improper and operated to the prejudice of the minority shareholders of Hollinger. After a preliminary application in Saskatchewan regarding jurisdiction, the plaintiffs discontinued against our client. Bruley v. Instaloans Financial Solutions Centres A class action commenced in Ontario against a payday loan company. Delf v. Merit Energy This was a class action brought in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia. The Ontario and British Columbia actions were stayed. We represented the auditors of Merit Energy, a public oil and gas company that had become insolvent. The action proceeded in Alberta and was "certified" even before the Alberta Class Proceedings Act. The action was settled after examinations for discovery and a lengthy mediation process. The Alberta settlement, approved by the Court, was affirmed by Court Order in the class actions that had been commenced in Ontario and British Columbia. Downey v. Instaloans Financial Solutions Centres A class action recently commenced in Ontario against a payday loan company. Enticknap v. HMS Financial et al We are co-counsel for the plaintiffs in relation to a national and cross-border class action alleging securities fraud. In Re 360Networks We were counsel to Canadian residents who were defendants in a class action brought in New York alleging misrepresentation in connection with the shares of a high-tech public company. This matter was settled in New York. Kilroy v. A OK Payday Loans Inc. et al This was a British Columbia class action against a number of smaller payday loan operations, and we represented three of the defendants. The plaintiff discontinued its action against our clients. Korte v. Cormie This class action was brought on behalf of all investors in two subsidiaries of the Principal Group, a financial conglomerate that failed. We defended the defendant auditors. Prior to Dutton, this was the leading case in Alberta on "class proceedings", under Rule 42. We were unsuccessful before the Court of Appeal on an application to have the action struck as a representative action under Rule 42. The matter was settled on a satisfactory basis prior to examinations for discovery. Lahaie v. Goodyear This was a class action against Goodyear. We assisted as Alberta counsel in commencing the class action in Alberta at the request of British Columbia counsel, who had already commenced an action in British Columbia. The matter was settled in British Columbia. MacKinnon v. National Money Mart et al This class action was brought in British Columbia against the major players in the payday loan industry. We were counsel to one of the defendants. We were successful in opposing an application for certification, following which the plaintiff discontinued his action as against our clients. Pauli et al v. Ace INA Insurance et al Our firm acted as Alberta counsel for one of the defendants in this action which sought an interpretation of the Insurance Act and a return of any deductible charged where there was a total loss of vehicle in question. The action was resolved in favour of the defendants after a summary determination of a point of law. Ramias v. Johnson
Our firm is counsel to the Plaintiff in this class action claiming investment fraud and securities violations.
Tracy v. Instaloans Financial Solutions Centres A class action commenced in British Columbia against a payday loan company. Tschritter v. Instaloans Financial Solutions Centres A class action brought against a payday loan company in the province of Alberta. Western Canada Shopping Centres v. Dutton Our firm acted for one of the defendants in this longstanding class action for a number of years. Tainted Pet Food Class Action
Our firm is currently involved in a class action brought on by pet owners who are alleging that one of the major distributors of pet foods in Alberta did not have quality controls in place which resulted in the death of household pets from tainted food.
For further information To find out more about McLennan Ross' experience and expertise in this area of the law, please contact Graham McLennan at 780.482.9221 - email gmclennan@mross.com or Stuart Chambers at 780.482.9113 - email schambers@mross.com. |
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