Western Canada Class Actions Conference 2026

Course Chairs
Michelle T. Maniago — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver
Avichay Sharon — Branch MacMaster LLP, Vancouver

About the Course Chairs
Michelle Maniago is a disputes partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, and is located in Vancouver.

She has significant experience with highly complex commercial, banking, and corporate litigation and arbitration across a range of industries and legal subject matters. Her practice includes defence of high-profile provincial, national, and multi-jurisdictional class actions involving credit card insurance products, foreign exchange transaction costs, Ponzi schemes, mutual fund related management fees, alleged defective products, environmental claims, consumer protection claims, privacy breaches, and price-fixing claims. The resulting decisions are well-known precedents, particularly with respect to consumer protection, privacy, and competition-related claims. She has experience with all aspects of disputes, including complex and voluminous document production, multi-day oral discovery, multi-week trials, appeals and settlements (including class proceedings settlements).

She has been recognized in the area of class actions by Best Lawyers, Benchmark Litigation Canada, and Chambers Canada.

Avichay Sharon is a partner with Branch MacMaster LLP.

Avichay has a broad civil litigation practice acting on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants, with particular focus in class actions, constitutional law and Charter litigation, administrative law and insurance defence. Avichay has worked on class actions involving Charter claims, mass torts, price fixing and consumer protection laws, privacy rights, and environmental wrongs. Avichay also represents Canadian governments in complex litigation, both individual actions and class actions, including the governments of BC and Alberta as well as provincial regulators.

Avichay is also adjunct faculty at Peter A. Allard School of Law, co-teaching a seminar on Mass Torts and Class Actions and a member of the Editorial Board of the Canadian Class Action Review (University of Toronto Press). He is a frequent speaker on class actions and other areas of civil litigation and has been recognized in Best Lawyers – Canada.

Faculty
Chief Justice Ron A. Skolrood — Supreme Court of BC, Vancouver
Honourable Jacqueline Scott Corley — US District Judge, Northern District of California, San Francisco
Rick Anderson — National Director Class Action Claims Administration, MNP Ltd., Calgary
Cindy Blackstock, PhD — Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and Professor School of Social Work, McGill University, Ottawa
Ivan Bobanovic — Vice President, Settlement Administration, Verita Global, London
Tracey M. Cohen, KC — Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver
Mike DiBerardino — Director, Class Action Administration, Deloitte, Toronto
Professor Craig E. Jones, KC — Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops and Branch MacMaster LLP, Vancouver
Shelby Liesch — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver
Suzanne M. Maier — Director, Third Party Liability, Primary and Preventative Health Sciences, Government of Alberta, Edmonton
John Martens — MLT Aikins LLP, Winnipeg
Reidar M. Mogerman, KC — CFM Lawyers LLP, Vancouver
Michael F. Mooney — Senior Vice President, Verita Global, London
Josh Paterson, KC —  Executive Director, Law Foundation of BC, Vancouver 
Gavin Price — Jensen Shawa Solomon Duguid Hawkes LLP, Calgary
Michelle L. Segal — CFM Lawyers LLP, Vancouver 
Mackinley Sim — McDougall Gauley LLP, Regina
Nicole Sonier — Project Director, Epiq Class Action Services Canada, Inc., Ottawa
Jacob Todd — Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria

• has the CPA delivered on the promise of enhancing access to justice and judicial efficiency?
• reflections on lessons learned, contemporary class actions practice and the challenges going forward