Alberta Court Of Appeal Certifies National Class Action

The Alberta Court of Appeal recently allowed an appeal in Warner v Smith & Nephew Inc., overturning a lower court decision declining to certify a class action in a product liability matter.  Few national class actions have been certified in Alberta and therefore the reasoning of Alberta's highest court (affirming a low certification standard) may be of interest to institutions operating nationally.

The appellant commenced an action against a manufacturer for damages resulting from the implantation of the Birmingham Hip Replacement System. Under the Alberta Class Proceedings Act ("CPA"), the appellant sought certification of the action as a class action. The lower court denied certification, holding on the strength of competing evidence that "there was not an identifiable class of 2 or more persons, that the claims did not raise a common issue, that a class proceeding was not a preferable method for resolving the common issue, and that the appellant was not a