Blair Yorke-Slader talks with Law.Com about Bennett Jones' work for Dow Chemical Canada in what is believed to be the largest commercial damages award in Canadian history.
Blair led the Bennett Jones team in representing Dow against NOVA Chemicals, winning C$3.56 billion (US$2.6 billion) in damages in a decades-long lawsuit.
One key to their success, Blair said, was getting all the facts out at the start of the trial. They had 100 documents from NOVA’s records showing what employees had said to each other within the company. That gave the lawyers and the judge a way to check the veracity of what witnesses said on the stand.
“Let the documents tell the story because they're right there in black and white,” Blair said. “I believe that it was clear from the first day of this trial in January 2015 what had happened.”
Law.Com subscribers can read the full story here.
Bennett Jones