The news release says that Henderson has "filed suit"and specifically refers to a statement of claim. That is not human rights complaint jargon, dogger 12.

It sounds like the action was filed in Alberta, where they would use a "statement of claim". Here in BC we commence Supreme Court actions with a "notice of civil claim".

I do a bit of civil litigation in Alberta in addition to my BC practice. Both provinces have parallel procedures for civil litigation. The important points to note:

• the company will be allowed some period of time to file a statement of defense, probably at least a few weeks (although there are specific time limits they are generally relaxed by counsel)

• both Henderson and the company thereafter enter into a period of document discovery which will likely span some months

• at some point there will be oral examinations for discovery (sometimes incorrectly referred to as depositions). Typically these discoveries occur many months after the commencement of action

• either party will be at liberty to schedule the matter for trial once the "pleadings are closed" (i.e., once the statement of defense and any subsequent pleadings have been filed and exchanged) but, given the backlogs in the court system, trial dates will likely be unavailable for at least a year from the date of booking

• it is unrealistic to imagine that this matter would go to trial in less than 18 months from today; two years or longer is perhaps more likely

• as with any litigation, the parties and their counsel have a good deal of input into the timing of completion of the various procedural stages - it is not unusual for a litigant to proceed at a glacial pace to achieve some sort of strategic advantage

• the pleadings (statement of claim, statement of defense and subsequent pleadings) are public documents which can be accessed by anybody and there may be information there which would give us shareholders some insight into what specifically Henderson is alleging. I emphasize "may be" because sometimes statement of claim allegations are made on a very general level and are not particularly informative

• if the matter ever does proceed to trial then the evidence given and arguments made are all public

• in the meantime, however, everything is private - the documents exchanged during discovery and the oral examinations for discovery are all held privately and are all subject to an implied undertaking of confidentiality

The bottom line is that I believe this is a nonevent for shareholders. I doubt that anything will come of it that will provide us with any useful information, within the foreseeable future. Further, I doubt that the lawsuit will cause a significant problem for the company in the near future, as it is pretty easy for counsel to "ice the puck" repeatedly, to draw out the litigation.