TORONTO, February 18, 2002 -- Morris Ratner, one of the leading lawyers in prosecuting claims by Holocaust survivors against banks and companies that enslaved or looted the assets of Jews and other minority groups persecuted by the Nazi regime, will give a talk, "Litigating the Holocaust" on Thursday, Feb. 21.
The talk, presented by York University's Canadian Centre for German and European Studies (CCGES) in partnership with the Canadian German Lawyers Association, will take place 7 - 9 p.m., in the Barristers' Lounge of the Law Society of Upper Canada, Osgoode Hall, (east entrance across from Nathan Phillips Square), 130 Queen St. W., Toronto.
A partner with the US firm Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, Ratner will discuss litigation as a tool for achieving justice for victims of human rights abuse. He will compare procedural rules for class litigation in the United States and Canada, and the relative effectiveness of the courts and political negotiations in achieving compensation for victims.
Ratner was part of the legal team that originally filed and prosecuted litigation against the Swiss banks, resulting in the $1.25 billion US settlement. He has since been appointed to serve as settlement class counsel in that case.
He was one of the principal participants in the international negotiations hosted by the United States and Germany in the creation of a 10 billion Deutschmark ($4.5 billion US) German Foundation announced at the end of 1999. The foundation resolves, and is the source of compensation for all Nazi-era claims against German entities, including all Holocaust banking, insurance, and slave labour claims. He was similarly involved in the negotiations to resolve Nazi-era cases with Austria and France.
Ratner is a graduate of Stanford University, and received his law degree from Harvard University. He lives in New York.
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For further information, please contact:
| Silvie Kuppek | Prof. Jeffrey Peck | Ken Turriff |
| Canadian German Lawyers Assn. | Director, CCGES | Media Relations |
| 416-363-1867 | York University | York University |
| 416-736-5695 | 416-736-2100, ext. 22086 | |
| skuppek@rochongenova.com | jpeck@yorku.ca | kturriff@yorku.ca |
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