Profile
Glenn M. Zakaib
Glenn is a partner in the Advocacy Group and the Product Liability Group at Cassels Brock. The main focus of his practice is on product liability (e.g., drug and medical devices, automotive and aviation products, and electrical equipment and home appliances), as well as class proceedings (e.g., product liability, life insurance and misrepresentation claims and Competition Act claims). He has been involved in numerous precedent-setting cases. Glenn has been listed as a highly recommended lawyer in the PLC Cross-Border Life Sciences Handbook for being one of the few practitioners in Canada with a practice almost entirely devoted to product liability and class actions work.
A few of Glenn’s notable cases in these areas include:
- Successfully responding to a class action certification motion against a manufacturing client. This case is one of the few product liability cases not to be certified as a class action. It also was one of the first cases to interpret and apply recent Supreme Court decisions in a product liability context.
- Acting on behalf of a number of Insurance companies to resolve proposed class proceedings dealing with vanishing premium life insurance in Ontario.
- Working on a case that resulted in a precedent setting decision that has major implications for the management of class actions that started in different locations. He acted for a pharmaceutical client to persuade the court that actions involving plaintiffs and defendants located in different regions should be heard in one location, not necessarily in the location where the matter was first brought before a judge.
- Acting for an automobile manufacturing client in the defence of an alleged product liability claim where evidence relating to the alleged defect was shown to have been lost through the negligence of the engineer retained by one of the parties to the action. We were successful in obtaining sanctions against the party involved in the loss of the evidence and this case is often cited when issues of spoliation of evidence and appropriate remedies are being considered by the court.
- Acting for a party in relation to a class proceeding where efforts were made to have a settlement approved in the United States applied in Canada. This case has become one of the standards in addressing the factors to be examined in relation to application of principles of international comity in cross-border class action cases.
Glenn speaks regularly to professional and industry groups about legal issues that pertain to product litigation and class proceedings. He has delivered speeches to MEDEC and Osgoode Hall Professional Development Program, Quebec Bar Association, as well as the Canadian Institute, the Insurance Institute of Ontario and the Practicing Law Institute. He is a member of DRI's Drug and Medical Device Committee and noted as an expert in his field in Lexpert, Chambers Global and The Best Lawyers in Canada. He is also a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only honorary trial lawyer society.
In August 2010, Glenn was appointed as Chair of the International Law Committee of the Defense Research Institute (DRI). Appointment to the prestigious position of Chair of this association of civil defence lawyers recognizes Glenn Zakaib's ability and accomplishment in the area of International Law. DRI’s International Law Committee’s mission is to develop a global network of lawyers focused on the international and multi-national aspects of the practice of civil defence litigation. The International Law Committee brings together international clients and in-house and outside counsel who represent them, as well as US multi-national companies and their inside and outside counsel. Glenn is also Canadian Regional Director and Vice Chair of the International SLG for the DRI.
Glenn joined Cassels Brock in 1987, and in 1993 he served as the firm's Managing Partner. Glenn describes his approach to law as "client goal oriented." He believes strongly in the firm's network of expertise and the ability to serve the clients' best interests.
Education
LL.B., McGill University, 1981
B.A., York University, 1978
Achievements
- The 2012 Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada (Product Liability)
- The 2011 Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers in Canada (Litigation - Product Liability)
- Who's Who Legal: Canada 2011 (Life Sciences and Product Liability)
- The Best Lawyers in Canada 2012 (Class Action Litigation & Product Liability Law)
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2011 (Product Liability)
- Chambers Global 2011 (Dispute Resolution: Class Action)
- PLC Cross-Border Life Sciences Handbook
- The 2011 Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada (Product Liability)
- The Best Lawyers in Canada 2011 (Class Action Litigation & Product Liability Law)
- Chair of the International Law Committee of the Defense Research Institute
- Who's Who Legal: Canada 2010 (Life Sciences and Product Liability)
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2010 (Product Liability)
- Chambers Global 2010 (Dispute Resolution: Class Action; Dispute Resolution: Ontario)
- The 2010 Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada (Product Liability)
- The Best Lawyers in Canada 2010 (Class Action Litigation & Product Liability Law)
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2009 (Product Liability)
- The 2009 Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada (Product Liability)
- LawDay Leading Lawyers 2009 (Product Liability)
- Chambers Global 2009 (Dispute Resolution: Class Action; Dispute Resolution: Ontario)
- The Best Lawyers in Canada 2009 (Class Action Litigation & Product Liability Law)
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2008 (Product Liability)
- The 2008 Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada (Product Liability)
- Chambers Global 2008 (Dispute Resolution: Class Action)
- The Best Lawyers in Canada 2008 (Class Action Litigation & Product Liability Law)
- Martindale-Hubbell, AV PreeminentTM rating
- Chambers Global 2007 (Dispute Resolution)
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2007 (Product Liability)
- The Best Lawyers in Canada 2006/2007 (Class Action Litigation)
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2006 (Product Liability)
- Chambers Global 2006 (Dispute Resolution)
- Euromoney 2006 Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2005 (Product Liability)
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2004 (Product Liability)
Call to the bar
Ontario, 1983
Associations
- The Advocates' Society
- Canadian Bar Association
- Defense Research Institute (Vice Chair of the International SLG, Chair of DRI International Law Committee, Canadian Regional Director)
- Litigation Counsel of America (Fellow)
- Ontario Bar Association (Insurance and Civil Litigation Sections; member and on the executive of the Class Action Committee)
- Toronto Lawyers Association
Practice Areas
Representative
Work
Publications and Resources
In The News
Presentations
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