With legislation, regulation, jurisprudence and practice evolving continually and rapidly, the need to stay current is more pressing than ever.

As we moved into the new year, we prepared a summary of the main trends in Canadian litigation, grouped into three categories:

• cannabis-related,
• class action, and
• energy sector litigation.

The first two will be felt nationally; the last is more focused on Alberta.

Cannabis-related Litigation

In a highly anticipated decision issued last Thursday (on December 19, 2019), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held in In re Millennium Lab Holdings II, LLC that a bankruptcy court may constitutionally confirm a chapter 11 plan of reorganization that contains nonconsensual third-party releases. The court considered whether, pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Stern v. Marshall, 564 U.S. 462 (2011), Article III of the United States Constitution prohibits a bankruptcy court from granting such releases.