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ARTICLE · 03 SEPTEMBER 2008

The Future Of Class Actions In Canada: Added Complexity And Costs For Corporate Defendants

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
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Two recent decisions in the Canadian Vioxx litigation, one from Saskatchewan and the other from Ontario, should be of concern to all corporations conducting business in Canada.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Jeff Galway
Jeff Galway
Gordon McKee
Gordon McKee
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Copyright 2008, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Class Actions, August 2008

Two recent decisions in the Canadian Vioxx litigation, one from Saskatchewan and the other from Ontario, should be of concern to all corporations conducting business in Canada. These decisions raise the prospect of Canadian defendants having to defend multiple competing national class actions and plaintiffs' counsel pushing their cases forward more quickly (with a view that the race will go to the swiftest), both of which have the potential to significantly increase the cost and burden on corporate defendants facing class actions in Canada.

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