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	Residential School Survivor Cases Suspended by B.C. Supreme Court By Kim Pemberton Vancouver Sun November 7, 2011 www.vancouversun.com/life/Residential+school+survivor+cases+suspended/5671890/story.html B.C. Supreme Court has suspended dozens of residential school survivor compensation cases being handled by a Calgary law firm and has scheduled a hearing for Thursday in Vancouver to look into the issue. Blott & Company has been ordered not to contact any of its residential school abuse claimants or take any further steps on their behalf with the Independent Assessment Process (IAP) without further order of the court. The IAP is an out-of-court alternative dispute resolution body aimed at resolving claims of abuse suffered at residential schools. The court also imposed a ban on materials filed in support of the application, brought by Crawford Class Action Services. The cases before the IAP deal with sexual and physical abuses suffered by survivors of Indian Residential Schools throughout Canada. Since the formal compensation process began in September 2007, more than 10,000 hearings have been held across Canada. Chief IAP adjudicator Daniel Ish said of the 10,000 hearings approximately 90 per cent have resulted in claims being awarded. The average claim is $105,000, with a maximum compensation rate set at $440,000. Claimants are allowed to give their evidence in private before an IAP adjudicator because of the sensitive nature of the testimony and a fear many claimants would not step forward if they had to do so in open court, Ish explained. As part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the federal government pays lawyers 15 per cent of the compensation awarded to clients, and lawyers are allowed to request another 15 per cent maximum from the claimant's compensation package. Ish said typically the average legal fee is in the 20-per-cent range, of which three-quarters is paid by the government and the rest from the awarded compensation. Chief Robert Joseph, executive director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, a North Vancouver group assisting claimants across the country, said the upcoming hearing sends a message to lawyers that someone is "looking out for them." A representative from Blott & Company could not be reached for comment. Contact: kpemberton@vancouversun.com
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