Trending in the Right Direction: Trauma-Informed Processes in Class Actions
By Luis Lara-Palacio, 3L References to trauma-informed lawyering are becoming more common in the legal profession. The underlying principle of a trauma-informed approach requires lawyers to be aware of how trauma may impact their clients and how they interact with the legal system, to adapt how they work with clients, and to be conscious of the impacts of vicarious trauma. It requires lawyers to take active steps to prevent re-traumatization and minimize harm. In 2021, then Class Action Clinic student Michael Burns looked at elements of a trauma-informed approach used in the settlement approval motion decision in the Ontario Crown Ward Class Action (Grann et al. v. HMO). Three years later, it is time to look at how trauma-informed lawyering has evolved through the lens of one recent case: S. v. Ukraine International Airlines JSC (Ukraine Airlines). S. v. Ukraine International Airlines JSC On January 8, 2020, flight PS752 departed
