(Posted on behalf of the We Survived Woodlands Group:) PDF Version of this letter to print and share

October 2006

Urgent Community Alert

Re: Former Residents of Woodlands School

Dear Community Partner,

The We Survived Woodlands Group urgently needs your help to find all former Woodlands School residents to ensure they have the opportunity to retain independent counsel in the class action suit brought by former residents against the provincial government.

In February 2005, Madam Justice Nancy Morrison of the BC Supreme Court ruled that past residents of Woodlands who were abused at the school constituted a “class” of people who suffered damages because of the government’s failure to properly manage Woodlands. She ordered the case to proceed as a “class action”. The lawyer for the class action is James Poyner, of the law firm Poyner Baxter.

The We Survived Woodlands Group was formed in August 2002 by former Woodlands residents, family members and advocates. The Group has been working with the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities (BCCPD) to convince the government to Do The Right Thing: acknowledge that systemic abuse occurred at Woodlands and begin negotiations on restitution.

Unfortunately, members of We Survived Woodlands are not confident in the representation they are receiving from Mr. Poyner. To date, more than 100 former Woodlands residents have retained independent counsel to provide them with a second opinion on matters before the court. The independent counsel they have chosen is David Klein, of the law firm Klein Lyons. Mr. Klein is a very well-respected and successful class action lawyer.

The class action is going ahead in two stages:

Stage 1 - The Representative Plaintiff has to establish general liability — prove that Woodlands School did something wrong in law. If this is successful, the case moves to: Stage 2 - Individuals come forward and prove that some wrong was done to them. At this stage, individuals who have retained Mr. Klein as their independent counsel will have him there to represent their interests.

Progress through the courts will be lengthy. The next court date is set for January 2008. The We Survived Woodlands Group is continuing its efforts to convince the government to remove the case from the courts and negotiate restitution for Woodlands survivors in a timely manner based on a “common experience” payment. 

We believe it is essential that all former Woodlands residents be given the opportunity to retain independent counsel. The legal fee will be 15% of the amount received by the individual. If no compensation is received by the individual, there will be no fee.

Please help us to provide this important information to former Woodlands residents.

The other form (Intake Questionnaire)  is to be filled out for contact information.

Completed forms (one retainer form and one contact information form) should be faxed to:

Jane Dyson: BC Coalition of People with Disabilities (604-875-9227).

For more information, please contact:

Gregg Schiller: We Survived Woodlands Group (604-688-7001)

Email: GreggSchiller@shaw.ca

Thank you for any assistance you can give us in helping the survivors of Woodlands to receive fair restitution for the abuse they suffered.

Sincerely,

Gregg Schiller