In this short entr'acte some noteworthy events:
Big news
The appointment of Imperial Tobacco's counsel, Suzanne Côté, to Canada's Supreme Court was much in the news. Some media reports mentioned this case, and that she had included tobacco companies among her clients. Most mentioned the talents that have been very present during this trial: - as one observer put it in the Globe and Mail she is an "extremely aggressive advocate"!
Interesting times ahead. This case will almost certainly be taken up by the Supreme Court, but likely not for some years. Perhaps the court will also be asked to review decisions related to whether Imperial Tobacco's defence team abused court procedures in managing this case. (Justice Riordan has said as much - and the plaintiffs have identified a series of actions that they want him to rule on, although he has said he will not do so until after the main questions have been decided. See rulings of May 2, 2012 and May 15, 2013.
Good news
The plaintiffs have opened their database of exhibits and transcripts to the public. The web-site where you can access these documents is: https://tobacco.asp.visard.ca.
Enjoy! (In the coming weeks I will be posting lists of useful or interesting documents. If you have any specific inquiries about using the database or about the trial records, feel free to e-mail me at the contact address above.)
The trial resumes on December 8th.
