The Law Foundation of Ontario is pleased to announce the appointment of Eric S. Block to the Class Proceedings Committee.
Eric is a partner at Ross Nasseri LLP. An experienced trial lawyer, Eric focuses on high stakes, complex commercial litigation, fraud, cross-border litigation, internal investigations, real estate litigation, trade secret litigation, environmental litigation, product liability, private wealth litigation, and defamation. Eric is also a class actions expert. He has represented defence and plaintiff sides, acting in agricultural, product liability, medical devices, securities, employment spaces, and constitutional spaces.
“We are fortunate to have Eric joining the Class Proceedings Committee,” says Nadia Campion, the Committee’s newly elected Chair and a Commercial Litigator/Partner at Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb. “Eric is a prolific litigator who brings a remarkable range of defence and plaintiff experience. In addition, his renowned leadership and mentorship skills will serve the Committee well.”
Prior to joining Ross Nasseri LLP, Eric was a partner in the Toronto Litigation Group of McCarthy Tétrault LLP where he was awarded the mentor of the year and the legacy mentor award. Before this, Eric was a litigator at Paul, Weiss in New York where he worked on many precedent-setting litigations.
Eric has written for the Wall Street Journal and Jerusalem Post, among other publications. He co-authored the book Emergency Law in Canada: Commentary and Legislation. Eric received a degree in jurisprudence from Oxford University in 1997 and an LLM from the University of Chicago Law School in 1998. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 2003.
Eric joins the Committee as the appointee of the Attorney General of Ontario, replacing longstanding member and Committee Chair, John P. Brown. John, Legal and Strategic Advisor, Indigenous Initiatives at McCarthy Tétrault, joined the Committee in December 2019. He served for 6 years, the last two and a half of those as Chair. Under John’s leadership the Class Proceeding Fund saw significant growth in the number of applications and a consistently strong rate of success in the cases funded by the Committee. John’s easygoing nature, legal expertise, and commitment to access to justice allowed the work of the Committee to flourish and he will be missed. The Foundation and the Committee extend a sincere thank you to John for his exemplary service.
The Committee has elected Nadia Campion as its new Chair. Nadia, Commercial Litigator/Partner at Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb, has served on the Committee since July 2023. The Foundation looks forward to Nadia bringing her enthusiasm, strong legal acumen, and commitment to the mandate of the Fund as she assumes the role of Chair of the Committee.
The Class Proceedings Committee is responsible for making decisions about whether applicant class action plaintiffs will receive support from the Class Proceedings Fund. Both the Fund and Committee were established in 1992 as an amendment under the Law Society Act. The Fund provides financial support to approved class action plaintiffs for disbursement expenses associated with a case, such as expert and administrative fees, and indemnifies (or covers) plaintiffs for costs that may be awarded against them. The Fund promotes access to justice by enabling plaintiffs to fully pursue their claims.
The Law Foundation of Ontario provided a $500,000 endowment to establish the Class Proceedings Fund and supports the work of the Class Proceedings Committee by administering the Class Proceedings Fund. The Class Proceedings Committee has 5 members, one appointed by each of The Law Foundation of Ontario and the Attorney General of Ontario, and three appointed jointly.
