Class Action Carriage Fight Revisited After Years Of Delay

Carriage disputes are a unique aspect of Canadian class action practice which occur when two or more plaintiffs' counsel compete to represent a proposed class in a yet-to-be certified action. In deciding carriage disputes courts weigh a variety of different factors including the experience of counsel, funding, and the litigation plan, among others depending on the facts of the particular case. Successful counsel earns the right to continue prosecution of the action as a putative class proceeding.  

In the most recent chapter of these types of disputes, Justice Belobaba of the Superior Court of Ontario addressed the novel issue of whether a court can revisit the issue of carriage, and reassign class counsel on the basis that the counsel initially assigned carriage had unreasonably delayed in moving the action forward.