Understanding Class Actions Through a Historical Overview and Empirical Data From Quebec From the Past Twenty-five Years

• Author: Catherine Piché
• Pages: 201-239

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201

Understanding Class Actions Through a Historical

Overview and Empirical Data from Quebec from the

Past Twenty-Five Years

Catherine Piché

: This paper is the f‌irst empirical report of activities conducted at

the Class Actions Lab at the University of Montreal. The paper addresses

the volume of class actions in Quebec and Ontario (by way of compari-

son), the probability of class actions settling out of court, substantive

claims pursued in class actions, and average duration and delays in class

actions. It also discusses how class action success should be measured,

and whether class members have actually been compensated in Quebec

class actions over the course of the past twenty-f‌ive years. Factors af‌fect-

ing class member compensation are addressed as well. A broad overview

of the history and evolution of class actions in Quebec serves to context-

ualize trends noted in the empirical analysis.

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