Canadian Lawyer

8 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8 w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m Q U E B E C QUEBEC CONTINUES TO ATTRACT TOP CANADIAN CLASS ACTION LAW FIRMS Q uebec's reputation for being a class action- friendly jurisdiction con- tinues to attract leading national law firms in the field to la belle province. The newest arrival is Van- couver's Klein Lawyers. In July, the firm opened a one-lawyer office in Montreal, a stone's throw from the city court- house where the lion's share of class action cases in Quebec are filed with the Superior Court of Quebec. "It just makes sense," says firm founder and managing partner David Klein. Accord- ing to Klein, who opened his Vancouver office in 1995 and a second one in Toronto a few years later, his firm has always lacked the capacity to file in Quebec for national cases it liked. "There were language issues and the laws there are different," says Klein. His 15-lawyer firm, he adds, was always forced to get Quebec firms involved to file cases that had already been filed in Van- couver and Toronto. "That usually works well," notes Klein, who has success- fully represented clients in class action cases pertaining to breast implants, hepatitis C tainted blood and, most recently, female RCMP officers who claim to be victims of on- the-job harassment, intimida- tion and discrimination. "But there have been sig- nificant disagreements that resulted in significant delays. Having our own office in Que- bec gives us a greater degree of control over cases we file and is a benefit for our clients because we can move forward more quickly and effec- tively with a cohesive, unified approach to the litigation." Klein is not the first well- known Canadian lawyer in class action litigation on behalf of plaintiffs to hang a shingle in Quebec in recent years. The first was Regina's Merchant Law Group, which opened an office in Montreal nearly a decade ago that is now staffed by three lawyers. London, Ont.-based Sis- kinds is also reportedly doing brisk business in the office it set up in Quebec City a few years ago. According to a recent article in Quebec's popular French-language news site for lawyers, Droit-Inc., the Sis- kinds Desmeules office is one of the busiest class action law firms in the province, rivalling leading homegrown firms like Montreal's Belleau Lapointe and Trudel Johnston & Les- pérance. The influx of out-of-prov- ince firms to Quebec doesn't surprise Jean Saint-Onge. "Quebec has become a pre- ferred jurisdiction to file class action because of our autho- rization threshold," says Saint- Onge, senior counsel with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. He also organizes the coun- try's oldest and biggest annual conference on the subject (in March in Montreal) and was a key lobbyist for the creation of new class action division in the Montreal judicial dis- trict that, starting this month, will be devoted to hearing all authorization demands, which is expected to both speed up and improve the management of cases by a select group of judges who are experienced and interested in that area of law. According to Saint-Onge, the new division will make it that much easier and faster to get cases certified in Quebec, where the Code of Civil Proce- dure requires oral rather than written defences, and waives the need for affidavits and cross-examinations. Similarly, Quebec is a no-cost jurisdic- tion if filings fail to get certi- fied, meaning plaintiffs are not exposed to solicitor-client costs like in Ontario. Klein's new Montreal office — called Klein Avo- cats Plaideurs (or Klein Trial Lawyers), a separate legal entity due to Quebec laws — didn't waste time getting in on the action. On July 31, the office's lone lawyer, Careen Han- nouche, filed a class action against Facebook on behalf of all Quebec residents. The suit, which was "This seemed like a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor and help build a new office." Careen Hannouche Klein Avocats Plaideurs R E G I O N A L W R A P ntitled-6 1 2018-08-14 3:35 PM

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