Understanding Class Actions Through A Historical Overview and Empirical Data from Quebec from the Past Twenty-Five Years

Abstract: 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 comparison), 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 affecting class member compensation are addressed as well. A broad overview of the history and evolution of class actions in Quebec serves to contextualize trends noted in the empirical analysis.