December 7, 2011



Paul J. Martin is the director of the Toronto office's Class Actions practice group. He has an extensive practice in all aspects of civil, administrative and quasi-criminal litigation at all levels of court in Ontario.

Excerpt

There's been some recent theoretical discussion about cy près settlements in class action matters, but the issue is about to become a practical topic of discussion in Quebec.

"The question somewhat relates to the courts which may be taking a look at it," says Paul J. Martin, a litigator with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP in Toronto. Cy près awards are well suited for indirect purchaser cases, because it's hard to quantify exactly how much, if anything, end consumers might have suffered from the passing-on of overcharges down the chain. But if the Supreme Court ultimately decides that only direct purchasers can be compensated, the need for cy près in such cases would be eliminated.