ClassActionBlawg.com

Sorry to all my loyal readers (I use the plural form optimistically) for my absence from the Blawgosphere during the past week.  During my hiatus, Ward Branch of the Vancouver, B.C. firm Branch MacMaster sent me a copy of this decision denying class certification in an Alberta case filed against a chiropractic professional association and a would-be defendant class of chiropractors.  The case had received quite a bit of press in Canada when it was filed, no doubt due in no small part to the catastrophic injuries suffered by the named plaintiff, allegedly as a result of treatment received from a chiropractor.  (See, e.g., this June 2008 Canadian Press article).  In addition to addressing class certification issues, the decision addresses some interesting issues regarding the duty of care owed by a professional association to the public for injuries allegedly caused by its failure to properly regulate its members.