In Bellaire v. Independent Order of Foresters (2004), 5 C.P.C. (4th) 68 (S.C.J.), at paras 53- 4, Nordheimer J. provided a list of nine matters that he indicated were examples of those that ought to be addressed in a litigation plan. Quite understandably, the learned judge did not attempt to specify the amount of detail required with respect to each of them. Nor did he suggest that they will be equally important in every case. He stated: Litigation plans will vary in the amount of detail they contain depending on the degree of complexity of the underlying claims. However, any litigation plan ought to contain some outline of how the representative plaintiff and his or her counsel intend to ensure that the common issues will be effectively and efficiently pursued if the action is certified. ... I appreciate that any litigation plan will be a work in progress. It will need to be adjusted as the action proceeds. It may also be that the defendant and the court will need to have some input into variations to the proposed plan. None of those realities, however, relieves the representative plaintiff from his or her obligation to put before the court, on the certification motion, an initial effort at a plan to address these and other matters so that the court can be satisfied that, if the action is certified, some level of attention has been given to how the action will progress thereafter.
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