8 www.lexpert.ca
Feature
In the US, there is a system for multidis-
trict litigation (MDL), which allows federal
courts to aggregate and manage a whole
series of individual claims filed across the
country. For constitutional and other
reasons, there is no similar procedure in
Canada, says Linley. Lawyers must manage
mass torts "largely ad hoc," and case
management is unlikely to be an option
in most cases, especially when there are
claims inside and outside Ontario.
He says that not having "ready-made
rules" in play to manage mass tort inven-
tories holds advantages and disadvantages
for both plaintiffs and defendants.
" While still obviously advocating and
representing our clients' interests, in the
absence of those rules, [plaintiff and
defendant counsel] often need to work
out processes together for how cases may
go through common discovery or may be
worked up for trial together," says Linley.
" We need to think through what the
process and procedure will be and how
best that does or does not suit our respec-
tive clients' interests."
" We'll continue to see how this evolves
and whether the Rules of Civil Procedure
grow with it or whether other initiatives
are put in place. How much this trend
continues to increase in the future is
yet to be seen, but I expect this will be a
model that we will see in play for quite
some time."
"How much this
trend continues
to increase in the
future is yet to be
seen, but I expect
this will be a model
that we will see
in play for quite
some time"
Robin Linley
BLAKE, CASSELS &
GRAYDON LLP
HILLCOUNSEL.COM
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