U.S. plaintiff firms bankrolling, supporting Canadian securities class action suits

Aggressive U.S. plaintiff firms are slowly creeping their way into Canadian securities class action suits, warned Jay A.R. Cassidy, a senior vice president at Marsh in Toronto.
Cassidy addressed delegates at the 2010 RIMS Canada conference in Edmonton on Sept. 28 about recent trends in D&O liability.
The 2009 securities class action suit Timminco presented the first instance in which two firms competed to be the party to advance the action. The court granted carriage to Kim Orr Barristers P.C., a Canadian firm that was the smaller of two firms vying for the business.
“Ultimately, the less experienced and smaller firm won the day,” said Cassidy. “What is really interesting to some and perhaps disconcerting to a lot of us is that firm was funded monetarily and from an expertise perspective by the U.S. law firm Milberg LP.”
Milberg is an aggressive plaintiff firm, noted Cassidy.
“For the first time ever in Canada, we’re seeing those [U.S.] firms creep into the Canadian environment by use of resources and by use of funds,” he said. “It will be interesting to see the kind of impact that has.”