Sotos team awarded carriage of lithium batteries proposed class action

When two separate class actions are brought over the same subject matter, courts are sometimes required to decide which action should take precedence and which team of lawyers should be given "carriage" of the dispute.

An Ontario court recently heard such a dispute in two proposed class actions brought in respect of alleged price-fixing on lithium batteries sold in Canada. A team of lawyers from Sotos LLP (David Sterns, Jean-Marc Leclerc and Andy Seretis) together with a team of lawyers from Siskinds LLP in London, Ontario sought carriage over two other law firms which had brought a competing case in Ontario.

The court found that the class members would be best served by allowing the claim brought by the Sotos/Siskinds team to proceed and by staying the competing action. The reasons for decision can be found here.

We are very pleased that we will be moving forward with this important action. We have advanced the action considerably and will be seeking to have the court hear the certification motion without undue delay.