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strategic class action litigation ��� that which is not necessarily driven by merits, but more by entrepreneurial plaintiff lawyers seeking to leverage settlement from risk-averse Canadian businesses that don���t want to go to trial in high stakes litigation, even when the defence remains convinced there is no harm in Canada and no violation in Canadian law. ���We have argued in a number of forums, including before the Supreme Court, that the falling of the threshold in Canada is just not faithful to the Supreme Court���s prior jurisprudence,��� says Naudie. In 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada said to obtain class certification national class actions specialty group at Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Toronto. During the same period, there were dozens of class actions and related claims filed in federal and state courts in the U.S. ���By our last count, there were over a hundred pending claims filed in the U.S. In short, class plaintiffs scrutinize the press wires and they are prepared to file at a moment���s notice. It���s a race that belongs to the swift.��� Experts say the threshold for certification in Canada has become softer in contrast to trends being observed in the United States. ���I think what we���re finding in Ontario is that in most cases the leave requirement is not presenting a significant hurdle for plaintiffs,��� says Andrea Laing, a partner with Blake Cassels and Graydon LLP. ���I think what we���re likely to find is that cases in Ontario and other Canadian provinces are likely to get to the certification stage and beyond, proportionately and relative to the United States, but the reality is the damages We���ve got an ironic situation here where the standard in Canada has fallen much lower than the standard in the U.S. We actually have some cases where the court in the U.S. would not certify but the courts in Canada do certify in respect to the same misconduct and same alleged wrongs, and sometimes the same expert evidence, which from our perspective just doesn���t make sense. Christopher Naudie, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP exposure is likely to be much lower in Ontario or other provinces.��� With the increase in class actions coming forward, the defence bar here has expressed concern the floodgates have been opening in Canada for a plaintiff in Canada has to show some basis in fact for each of the requirements for class certification, the biggest one being commonality. ���We always understood that to mean a real onus ��� that the plaintiff has to come up with a We had a spark right from the beginning. Your lawyer. Your law firm. Your business advisor. BennettJones_IH_Dec_12.indd 1 ca na dia nl awy e rm a g . c o m / i n h o u s E December 2012/January 12-11-29 10:32 AM 2013 ��� 23

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