Class Actions

Quebec was the first Canadian province to introduce class actions, in 1978. Sylvestre Painchaud et associés, is since then a prominent firm in the Canadian landscape plaintiff’s class action firms. Our team benefits from an experience acquired year in year out since 1978, and enjoys a solid reputation in this complex litigation field. But what exactly is a class action, and how does it work? A class action is a court case that allows one person or an organization to take legal action on behalf of a group of people in a similar situation. Acting as a group allows the plaintiffs to take legal action himself on behalf of a group, therefore avoiding filing a lawsuit for each person. A class action is suitable in many situations, for example, when consumers purchase a defective product, when a service is inconsistent with its advertisement, or when a financial institution imposes undue fees or fails to adequately protect its clients’ assets. Our team has represented groups of citizens in over one hundred class actions. We have represented residents suffering from noise and smells emanating from a snowmobile trail, women who received defective breast implants, people affected by the 1998 ice storm crisis, dissatisfied clients of financial institutions and defrauded investors.