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CCCA_V7No4_ClassAction-FIN_CCCA 13-11-25 12:39 PM Page 22 Feature to cases that arise on both sides of the border. Cross-border class actions can take several forms, from parallel files with separate classes or overlapping classes in Canada and the U.S. to cases certified in Canada but not in the U.S. (which typically groups product liability cases under a multi-district litigation panel). Whatever the type of case, co-ordination of documents and strategies on both sides of the border is a top priority for in-house counsel, says veteran class action defence lawyer Silvie Rodrigue, managing partner of Torys LLP Montreal office. “The procedure will be dif- ferent in each system but still requires co- ordination,” she says. “For example, we don’t want documents where there is discovery or document production to be filed too quickly so the plaintiff counsel in Canada can put his hands on it and feed the case in Canada.” Co-ordination is as important at settlement to ensure so-called global peace for the defendant, says Catherine Beagan-Flood, a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto whose class action portfolio includes anti-trust, product liability, consumer protec- tion and privacy. A successful strategy in product liability and anti-trust cases, she says, is to ensure recognition of a proposed settlement in one jurisdiction by provincial courts elsewhere. “Be pro-active,” she says. “Make sure that you go to all the other provinces where there is litigation to get the cases that exist there dis- missed and get an order recognizing and enforcing the [proposed] settlement approval.” Cross-border co-ordination also extends to findings of guilt and payment of fines, adds Beagan-Flood. In an investigation of anti-trust and white “You have to be very collar crime, for example, she says U.S. coun- sel need to consider the impact of a plea on cognizant about co-ordinating deliberations in Canada. “There will often be your outside counsel in the an assumption that what you do in that cir- various jurisdictions...” cumstance will only have an effect in the U.S., without realizing that it can [be rele- Tim Pinos vant] in other countries as well,” she says. Partner Keeping a global perspective is essential, Cassels Brock says David Kent, a partner with McMillan PAUL EEKHOFF Toronto and national co-chair of its dispute resolution 22 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association WINTER 2013