Introduction
Author | Harvey T. Strosberg |
Pages | 1-3 |
1
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to issue 18.1 of the Canadian Class Action Review. This issue
begins with a detailed review of Michael Eizenga’s recent publication The
Class Actions Handbook. The reviewer Shaun E. Finn provides a thorough
and comprehensive assessment of the Handbook, beginning with a gen-
eral overview before providing a more precise breakdown of the author
and the most notable themes and features of the book. These include dis-
cussions of, among other things, access to justice, summary judgements,
carriage motions, limitations, and fees—all issues that are key to current
trends in class actions scholarship. Finn posits that The Class Actions
Handbook definitely belongs on the bookshelf of anyone practicing or
studying class actions law in Canada: “Not only is it a recent publication
that captures the most relevant class action authority, but it is an authen-
tically multijurisdictional work that does not give short shrift to any Can-
adian jurisdiction, . . . written in clear, concise prose that is accessible to
the busy lawyer in need of assistance.”
Next, authors Sydney McIvor & Brittany Town speak to the sensi-
tive, important, and culturally relevant issue of sexual abuse, interrogat-
ing if and how class actions can be used to provide access to justice for
survivors. As they explain, prosecuting sexual abuse is often dicult and
can be traumatizing for plaintiffs, and class actions have the potential to
provide a less harmful alternative to civil procedure. The authors begin
by reviewing the jurisprudence of sexual abuse class actions and go on
to explore the experiences of both representative plaintiffs and general
class members. There are many strengths to the procedure, but also
many ways in which sexual abuse class actions fail, and the authors con-
clude their analysis by making five key recommendations towards a more
trauma-informed approach to sexual abuse class actions.
Ontario’s recent Bill 161 continues to make waves as the province
adjusts to the sweeping changes to class actions legislation. Now close
to two years since the changes came into force, we are beginning to see
the practical effects that those changes have on the legal landscape. One
particularly complex change that courts and legal scholars continue to
grapple with involves the new section 4.1. Previous to Bill 161, certifica-
tion motions were the first step in any class action, and only in very rare
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