Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6 9 \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP States. The only potential debtor that refused to participate is the Canadian Pacific Railway, which decided to defend itself against possible future lawsuits. (A class action is actually pending, wrote Dumas.) The professionals did remarkable work, said Dumas. They put in 20,000 hours of work and revised more than 5,000 claim documents. These efforts were made to pay the victims as quickly as possible, said the judge. The payment would have been made even sooner had Canadian Pacific not con- tested the constitutionality of the case and had not opposed the adoption of the plan of arrangement, he wrote. The government of Québec, a major creditor claiming $400 million in dam- ages, opposed the bonus payment. It felt this case shouldn't be treated in the same way as a class action as there was not a specific mandate between the lawyers and parties involved. The court disagreed. It cited 2011's re: Tepper Holdings Inc. in establishing the criteria used to determine lawyers' fees in a suit filed under the Companies' Credi- tors Arrangement Act, which include the time devoted to the case, the law- yers' competence, and the importance and urgency of the issues. Dumas noted the case is unprecedented in Canada. Normally, bankruptcy profes- sionals obtain guarantees of payment before the work is begun. The judge hopes this case may incite professionals to pursue their claims in future cases, even if the payment of their fees is at risk, such as in a class action. How many times do we see claims that seem worthy being discounted for lack of financial assets, and how many good cases benefit only the creditors who have the financial means to pur- sue them? asked Dumas. He estimated the bonus payment is about two per cent of the compensa- tion fund, and 4.5 per cent if fees billed previously are counted — well below the 20- to 25-per-cent range normally allocated in class action suits. Will this case have an effect on insolvency law practice? Lawyer Syl- vain Vauclair, of Woods, thinks it might. "Maybe we will see cases where suits will be filed for the benefit of a group of creditors even if the resources to finance such a suit are absent, since it is now accepted that the profession- als who filed the suit will be able to claim a compensation for the risk they took, in case of success," he told Cana- dian Lawyer. He also remarked the CCAA "cre- ates an environment where no creditor [victim] can exclude itself from the process if the plan is approved by the group of creditors, which is a funda- mental difference from the class action process, and which allows for a more direct path towards settlements with potentially liable parties." — PASCAL ELIE pascalelie636@gmail.com Leading local HR lawyers in one global group With 24% more HR lawyers ranked globally than any other legal services organization, Ius Laboris off ers exceptional HR legal services to corporate counsel and HR professionals. Mathews Dinsdale is proud to have again been named by Canadian Lawyer magazine as one of the Top 10 Labour and Employment boutiques. mathewsdinsdale.com ntitled-3 1 2016-01-12 8:03 AM

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