New Dimensions Of Preferable Procedure: "Jurisdictional Preferability" And Multijurisdictional Class Proceedings

In order to be certified, a proposed class proceeding must be deemed the "preferable procedure" for resolving the plaintiff's claims. The preferable procedure analysis takes on new dimensions where a proposed class proceeding is one among several overlapping proceedings commenced in other jurisdictions – an enduring trend that we have previously written about here and here. In recent years, professional bodies, legislatures and courts have taken various measures to address how the preferability analysis changes in the context of multijurisdictional class proceedings, and when "jurisdictional preferability" should be assessed.

In Forster v. Monsanto Company, 2020 BCSC 1376, the Supreme Court of British Columbia considered these questions, in light of a new protocol designed to manage multijurisdictional class proceedings and related amendments to the Class Proceedings Act, RSBC 1996, c 50 (the "BC CPA"). Forster also provides insight on key distinctions between the