COMPLEX LITIGATION
MANAGEMENT

The world of litigation is becoming more and more complex. Whether in the context of commercial, aboriginal, environmental, or other legal disputes, trials are becoming lengthier and more costly as the impact of electronic records becomes increasingly evident. Ensure that you are in step with technological, regulatory and procedural innovations and benefit from expert analysis from in-house as well as public sector counsel and litigation experts.

Topics include:

• The New Rules of Procedure and the impact on complex and mega litigation: BC and Alberta developments
• Fast tracking litigation in the new regimes
• Transitional provisions under the new rules
• Meeting the challenges of multi-party and multi-jurisdiction litigation
• Asserting, protecting and contesting privilege in complex litigation
• Determining the validity of a public interest immunity claim
• Negotiation, mediation, arbitration and settlement in complex cases
• Litigation as an aspect of reconciliation in cases involving Aboriginals
• Streamlining processes and reducing costs in mega litigation
• Managing litigation against the Crown and public bodies
• The latest on Class Actions: national class, cross border, clawback agreements

PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS

Thomas H. MacLachlan, Q.C.
Barrister & Solicitor
Legal Services Branch
Ministry of the Attorney General of British Columbia

James Sullivan
Partner
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

SPECIAL PRESENTATION

Aboriginal Litigation Practice Guidelines and Other Initiatives of the Federal Court – Aboriginal Bar Liaison Committee

IN-DEPTH SEMINAR

November 18, 2010

Record and Litigation File Management in Complex Litigation – Preservation,
E-Discovery, Cost Controls and More

Michael Condé
National Director, Litigation Support
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Robert M Gerbrandt
Senior Manager
KPMG Forensics

CLE Accreditation

This program has been approved by the Law Society of British Columbia for 11.75 hours and by the Law Society of Saskatchewan for 12 hours.

The post-conference seminar has been approved by both the Law Society of British Columbia and the Law Society of Saskatchewan for 6 hours.

SPONSOR

MARKETING PARTNERS

• Litigation Lawyers
• In-house Counsel, Legal Risk Managers, Records Managers and Senior Management
• Government Lawyers and Information Managers
• First Nations Advocates, Chiefs and Lawyers
• Litigation Paralegals and Clerks

• Court Officials and Magistrates
• Mediators, Arbitrators and Settlement Experts
• Litigation Support Specialists and Service Providers
• Law Librarians and Knowledge Managers
• Legal Scholars and Researchers

Dear Colleague,

The world of litigation is becoming more and more complex. Whether in the context of commercial, environmental, aboriginal or other legal disputes, trials are rapidly becoming lengthier and more costly as the impact of the transition to electronic records and digital data is increasingly evident.

As the world becomes more interconnected and accessible, litigation has become increasingly complex. Actions now frequently involve multiple parties, numerous overlapping jurisdictions and legal contexts. As a result, counsel must not only be concerned about their court actions but also about how the strategies and legal positions they take will impact their clients around the world. Discovery and trial processes can easily become a tangled, pricey web of electronic files with numerous versions and iterations of documents and overlapping maze-like proceedings.

The need to streamline, simplify and bring due measure to litigation proceedings in the electronic age has much to do with the new rules and guidelines that are emerging in jurisdictions across Canada. But the benefits of such innovations will only be felt once you have mastered the new rules and related procedures and can actually make use of them to improve the conduct of litigation, reduce litigation risk and avoid the legal and financial penalties (not to mention the embarrassment) of getting it wrong.

This Insight Information conference has been developed to help you achieve these objectives. Whether you are in-house counsel from business, not-for-profit or aboriginal organizations, a litigator or senior litigation management expert, a court official, or government side litigation counsel, you will want to attend this conference for expert analysis of the key issues and latest developments.

You will benefit from timely coverage of topics that will deal with key aspects of Complex Litigation Management including:

• Discovery and E-Discovery strategies in light of the new rules
• Mega case team and project management
• Avoiding the traps and pitfalls under the new rules
• Appealing Masters’ orders in the new regime
• New technologies that support complex litigation
• Managing complexity in public inquiries

For added value, a special intensive one-day seminar is being offered to ensure that you understand the key principles, requirements and strategies for effective record management and for managing litigation risk. From the front end processes of gathering, storing and preserving information, to effective decision-making about managing records and information once litigation is in the offing, to best approaches for undertaking discovery in today’s digital world, you will be guided through the major decisions, actions and steps that need to be considered.

We and the assembled faculty of experts look forward to meeting you at this timely and practical conference for information sharing and dialogue on managing the complexities and costs of litigation today.

Sincerely,

Thomas H. MacLachlan, Q.C.
Barrister & Solicitor
Legal Services Branch
Ministry of the Attorney General of British Columbia

James Sullivan
Partner
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

November 16, 2010

8:15

Registration and Coffee

9:00

Welcoming Remarks from Insight Information

9:05

Co-Chairs’ Opening Remarks

Thomas H. MacLachlan, Q.C.
Barrister & Solicitor
Legal Services Branch
Ministry of the Attorney General of British Columbia

James Sullivan
Partner
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

9:10

The New Rules of Procedure and the Impact on Complex Litigation – BC and Alberta Developments

Andrew I. Nathanson
Partner
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

Everett L. Bunnell, Q.C.
Partner
Macleod Dixon LLP
Former Member, Alberta Rules of Court Committee

In BC and Alberta, new rules of procedure have been introduced that significantly impact the conduct of all litigation and this will be especially so in the case of complex litigation, given the focus of the rules on simplification, streamlining and “proportionality” issues.

• Key provisions and changes: comparing new and old rules regimes
• B.C. Supreme Court Civil Rules changes of note
  • Proportionality
  • Pleadings
  • Case planning and case management
  • Document discovery and examinations for discovery
  • Experts
  • Fast track litigation
  • Transitional provisions
• Alberta’s new Rules of Court
  • Philosophy
  • Litigation plan organization
  • Court assistance on litigation management
  • Litigation management and dispute resolution
  • Milestones and deadlines
  • Transitional rules
  • Documents and forms
  • Disclosure and discovery under new rules
  • Relevant and material test in civil litigation regime
  • Written evidence and E-Discovery rules
  • Participating in discovery electronically
  • Admissibility provisions
  • Experts and expert reports
  • Appeals from Masters
  • E-trials
  • Costs
• Transition strategies on complex files
• Do the new rules work for complex litigation?
• Experiences to date under the new rules
• Traps for the unwary – avoiding the quicksand

10:15

Networking Coffee Break

10:30

Discovery and E-Discovery Strategies In Light of the New Rules

Michael Condé
National Director, Litigation Support
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Melanie Schweizer
Senior Counsel
Bell Canada
Member, Sedona Canada

• Rules on discovery – what has changed?
• E-Discovery – key provisions
• Rules of proportionality – what is the new guidance?
• Effective implementation of the new regime
• Guidelines and strategies for effective discovery process
• E-evidence practice guidelines
• Negotiating the process
• Negotiating the inclusions and exclusions
• Determining where to draw the line – the business case scenario
  • Special cases
  • Constitutional cases
  • Administrative law cases
  • Class actions
• In-house perspective on the new rules and procedure
  • Implications for managing records
  • Litigation risk
  • Litigation cost management
  • Working with outside counsel

11:30

Managing Multi-Party Disputes

Douglas A. McGillivray, Q.C.
Partner
Burnett Duckworth & Palmer LLP

• Relevant rules and procedures
• The special challenges of multi-party litigation
• Document exchange protocols
• Negotiated settlements and narrowing the issues
• Discovery and E-Discovery protocols
• Managing the paper and information flow
• Managing the process and the timelines
• Streamlining the process to manage the costs
• Some case studies

12:15

Networking Luncheon

1:45

Addressing Jurisdictional Complexity

Robert J.C. Deane
Partner
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

• Jurisdictional challenges
• Relevant legislation and rules
• Managing multi-jurisdictional disputes
• Discovery and E-Discovery strategies
• Recent case law of note

2:30

Networking Refreshment Break

2:45

Asserting, Protecting and Contesting Privilege in Complex Litigation

James Sullivan
Partner
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Melanie Schweizer
Senior Counsel
Bell Canada
Member, Sedona Canada

Gareth Morley
Civil Litigation Group
Ministry of the Attorney General, British Columbia

• Current state of the law
• Most challenging and problematic scenarios and how to address them
• Meeting practical challenges in the context of complex litigation
• Multiple parties, multiple locations and privilege protection
• When to challenge privilege and how to succeed
• In-house privilege challenges and best practices
  • What is subject to privilege?
  • Who can waive privilege?
  • Pitfalls to avoid – inadvertent waiving of privilege
  • Best practices and strategies
• Privilege and disclosure by public bodies under Freedom of Information statutes and in civil litigation
  • What remains of common law immunity
• Public interest immunity
  • Carey v. Ontario test
  • Process for determining validity of claim of public interest immunity
  • Trends in the case law
• Informant privilege
• Solicitor-client privilege in the public sector
• National security issues
• Waiver of public sector privilege

4:15

Negotiation, Mediation, Arbitration and Settlement in Complex Litigation

Warren B. Milman
Partner
McCarthy Tétrault LLP

• When to talk settlement
• To mediate or not to mediate
• Advantages and pitfalls of arbitration for complex cases
• Dealing with conflicting arbitration and other forum clauses
• Settlement challenges in multiple party and multi-jurisdictional law suits
• Dealing with non-settling defendants

5:00

Conference Adjourns for the Day

November 17, 2010

8:30

Coffee

9:00

Co-Chairs’ Opening Remarks

Thomas H. MacLachlan, Q.C.
Barrister & Solicitor
Legal Services Branch
Ministry of the Attorney General of British Columbia

James Sullivan
Partner
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

9:05

Latest Developments and Strategies on Class Actions

Rodney L. Hayley
Partner
Lawson Lundell LLP

David A. Klein
Partner
Klein Lyons LLP

• Update on the tobacco class actions in B.C. and Newfoundland
• New developments on the national class, including an update on the CBA National Class Action Task Force
• Discovery issues in cross-border related cases, including implied undertakings of confidentiality issues
• Clawback agreements – practical considerations and current legal developments

10:15

Networking Coffee Break

10:30

Aboriginal Litigation – Meeting the Challenges and Complexities

Rosanne Kyle
Partner
Janes Freedman Kyle Law Corporation

• Issues arising on judicial review where breach of the Crown’s duty to consult is alleged
• Building the record for Judicial Review
• Litigation as an aspect of reconciliation

James M. Mackenzie
Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section
Aboriginal Law Group
B.C. Regional Office
Department of Justice Canada (Vancouver)

• Project management principles for major Aboriginal litigation
• Megacase team building and team leadership
• Aboriginal megacase document management
• New complex litigation support technology
• Finding and managing expert witnesses and consultants
• Case studies: Lax Kw’alaams Indian Band v. Canada (Attorney General), Ahousaht Indian Band and Nation v. Canada (Attorney General)

11:30

Documents and E-Documents Management in Complex Litigation

Thomas H. MacLachlan, Q.C.
Barrister & Solicitor
Legal Services Branch
Ministry of the Attorney General of British Columbia

Jonathan Penner
Barrister and Solicitor
Constitutional and Administrative Law Group
Legal Services Branch
Ministry of Attorney General, British Columbia

• How to manage document retrieval and discovery of documents
• Finding the gems in the mountains of documents produced in complex litigation
• Presentation of documents and E-Documents at trial
• Getting to the core – how to handle key documents during the course of litigation
• Have the recent changes to the Rules in British Columbia changed the Peruvian Guano test for production of documents?

12:15

Networking Luncheon

1:15

Aboriginal Litigation Practice Guidelines and Other Initiatives of the Federal Court – Aboriginal Bar Liaison Committee

Kathy Ring
General Counsel
Aboriginal Law Section, Litigation Services
Department of Justice, Canada

2:00

Managing Complexity in Public Inquiries and Commissions

David Neave
Partner
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Taking several recent public inquiries and commissions as case studies, expert counsel will examine key procedural and legal issues and the impact on these resulting from the move to electronic production and discovery of documents.

2:45

Networking Refreshment Break

3:00

Cost Containment Strategies – Client and Litigator Perspectives

Thomas H. MacLachlan, Q.C.
Barrister & Solicitor
Legal Services Branch
Ministry of Attorney General

David E. Gruber
Partner
Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP

• Streamlining processes for cost related decisions on complex litigation files
• Budget setting and key considerations
• Where do the pitfalls lie?
• Who is the quarter back for managing the process and the costs?
• Who should be consulted and when?
• Key factors to be considered
• Rules and regulations
• Special scenarios
• Constitutional cases

3:45

Litigation Against the Crown and Public Bodies

Lise Olsen
Litigation Counsel
Law Department
The City of Calgary

In this case study of a lawsuit launched unsuccessfully against the City of Calgary for damages of over $20,000,000, key issues to be examined will include:

• Statutory and common law defences used in the Erlton case
• Electronic document production challenges and strategies
• A non-suit application
• Managing and preparing expert witnesses
• Joint and several liability issues

Jonathan Penner
Barrister and Solicitor, Constitutional and Administrative Law Group, Legal Services Branch
Ministry of Attorney General, British Columbia

• Impact of new rules – key provisions
• Special challenges in complex litigation involving public entities
  • Document disclosure
  • Public interest immunity
• Increased exposure for Crown
  • Special costs
  • Advance costs
  • Privacy compliance

4:45

Post-conference Seminar | November 18, 2010

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (Light Lunch 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.)

Record and Litigation File Management in Complex Litigation – Preservation,
E-Discovery, Cost Controls and More

Michael Condé
National Director, Litigation Support
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Robert M Gerbrandt
Senior Manager
KPMG Forensics

Whether you are an in-house, corporate/commercial or litigation lawyer, risk or information manager, law clerk, paralegal or litigation support staff, you will want to have the latest information on managing records and e-records for litigation risk and streamlined litigation and discovery processes. This is particularly so in the context of the changing rules of procedure and ever evolving technologies.

Among the strategic and practical topics to be covered are:

• Managing the process at the front end
• Client information management and preservation of records
• Collection of the files and records
• Preservation prior to review and analysis
• Acquiring the necessary E-Discovery tools – Making the call
  • Document review
  • Functionalities
• Preliminary culling and screening of records
  • De-duping
  • Rendering records searchable
  • Effective digital searches
• In-sourcing versus outsourcing – making the call
  • What to consider
  • Scale, timelines, complexity, cost, resource availability and allocation
  • When you need to retain control of the process
  • How to retain control of the process
  • Risks of in-sourcing
  • Conflict of interest
  • Scale and capacity issues for storage and preservation
• Production and presentation strategies
• Biggest headaches and how to avoid them

You will benefit from specially prepared and up-to-date materials and an in-depth learning environment which will accommodate questions, discussion and dialogue around issues of concern to you and your practice.

Michael Condé is the National Director of Litigation Support at the firm of Borden Ladner Gervais. He is a past board member at the Association of Litigation Support Professionals (ALSP) and has held senior positions in litigation support organizations in both Canada and the UK.

Register 3 delegates for the main conference at regular price at the same time and you’re entitled to register a fourth person from your organization at no charge. For other group discounts, please call 1-888-777-1707. All discounts must be redeemed when booking, discounts will not be valid or applied after this time.