TORONTO — An Ontario judge has decided which law firm will represent employees in the Hudson's Bay creditor protection case.
An endorsement filed by judge Peter Osborne on Monday named Ursel Phillips Fellows Hopkinson LLP as representative counsel to the faltering department store's more than 9,000 employees and 3,000 retirees.
While Hudson’s Bay employees are expecting their pensions to be safe because the plan currently has a surplus, many have already lost access to other supplemental plans and benefits as the company liquidates all 80 of its stores and 16 others it runs under the Saks banners in Canada.
Monday's court decision puts an end to a battle that had broken out at the retailer's last court hearing between law firms wanting to act on behalf of employees.
After soliciting interest from five firms, Hudson's Bay lawyers selected Ursel in part because it was also involved in insolvency cases for defunct retailers Sears Canada and Nordstrom Canada.
Rival firm Koskie Minsky LP, which had expressed interest in representing Bay staff and had been retained by 420 workers, objected to how the decision was made.
Koskie Minsky lawyer Andrew Hatnay did not provide a comment on the decision.
In court, the firm had called the Bay's decision to pick Ursel without posting an open callout a “serious process problem" because it is up to the court's discretion which firm represents workers.
Koskie Minsky requested former associate chief justice of Ontario Douglas Cunningham be appointed to decide who should represent workers.
Osborne agreed to have the selection process reviewed but opted to use retired judge Herman Wilton-Siegel instead to remove any potential bias.
A report Wilton-Siegel compiled for the court shows he looked at proposals from five firms that all had "significant commercial and insolvency expertise and experience."
"The decision to select one proposal out of five was difficult," Wilton-Siegel wrote.
He evaluated each of the proposals on five criteria — independence, requisite experience, communications with employees, cost issues and demonstrated interest in working with the monitor appointed to guide Hudson's Bay through creditor protection.
Several firms had conflicts, Wilton-Siegel said.
Koskie Minsky, for example, had previously revealed it had been involved in a class action against Hudson's Bay.
While it may be possible to address past ties, Wilton-Siegel said it is preferable for law firms representing employees to be perceived as being free of conflicts and associations with the Bay and the monitor.
In addition to being conflict-free, Wilton Siegel found Ursel had a "thoughtful and sophisticated understanding" of issues facing Hudson's Bay employees and experience communicating with large groups of staff in insolvency cases.
Lawyer Susan Ursel said the firm is happy the employees and retirees now have appointed counsel.
“We look forward to working on their behalf to secure the best outcomes in these difficult circumstances. We will be in touch soon directly with employees and retirees with further information.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2025.
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
