In August 2018, a fire at 650 Parliament Street in Toronto
damaged two residential towers. The blaze left hundreds of
residents without a home, and several with injuries. Two competing
class actions soon materialized, both commenced by experienced
class counsel. Class counsel did not form a consortium, and Justice
Belobaba of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice was forced to
determine which of the two law firms should have carriage of the
action.
In his decision in Chu v. Parwell Investments Inc.,
Justice Belobaba, having found all other factors to be essentially
equal, selected one firm over the other on the basis of the fee
arrangements proposed.
In reaching his decision, Justice Belobaba considered the
experience of the competing firms, the parties proposed in the
competing class actions, the causes of action alleged, and the
states of preparation, as between the competing firms. He found no
clear winner on these factors: competing class counsel had
