Tar Ponds Cost Award to be Paid by Law Firms and Third Party Financing Company

HALIFAX/LONDON, ON/TORONTO, Jan. 22, 2015 /CNW/ - In March 2004, five residents of Sydney, Nova Scotia commenced a class action with respect to the contamination of their properties as a result of the operation of coke ovens and steel operations in the nearby Sydney Tar Ponds. Their properties were contaminated with highly toxic substances including, in certain instances, arsenic, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The Governments of Nova Scotia and Canada were named as defendants for their role in the operation of the Sydney Tar Ponds and the resulting contamination.

The class action law firms, Wagners and Siskinds LLP, were retained to act on behalf of the representative plaintiffs and the class. BridgePoint Global Litigation Services Inc. provided the representative plaintiffs with a $500,000 indemnity to help offset any order made against the representative plaintiffs to pay the defendants' costs.

Although the claim was initially certified by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia as a class action, the representative plaintiffs were not successful on an appeal before the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. The representative plaintiffs sought leave to appeal the Court of Appeal's decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. On January 15, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the leave application with costs.

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has ordered the representative plaintiffs to pay $737,876.62 to the Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia for their costs of the certification motion, the appeal and the reconsideration motion. BridgePoint Global Litigation Services Inc., will pay $500,000, and Wagners and Siskinds LLP will pay approximately $240,000 to satisfy the defendants' cost award as well as any costs ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Wagners, Siskinds, and BridgePoint are proud to stand by the citizens of Sydney, Nova Scotia, and protect the representative plaintiffs against the financial consequences of adverse cost awards.

Wagners is recognized as one of Nova Scotia's leading serious injury law firms. They are dedicated to representing people whose lives have been altered as the result of a debilitating accident and are class action lawyers representing clients in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and beyond.

Siskinds LLP is a full-service law firm based in London, with an office in Toronto. Siskinds LLP has earned worldwide recognition for its work in plaintiff-side class action litigation.

BridgePoint Financial Group is the leading commercial provider of legal cost indemnities and disbursement financing for class action litigation in Canada. In addition, BridgePoint Indemnity Company (BICO) is Canada's leading provider of legal cost protection for personal injury litigation, providing protection for over 10,000 personal injury claims.

SOURCE BridgePoint Financial Group

CONTACTS: Raymond F. Wagner, Wagners, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Tel: [phone]; C. Scott Ritchie, Q.C., Siskinds LLP, London, Ontario, Tel: [phone]; John Rossos, BridgePoint Global Litigation Services, Toronto, Ontario, Tel: [phone]

Related Links

www.bridgepoint.ca