A legal expert isn’t surprised Calgary based Encana Corp. was hit with three massive lawsuits this week.

The suits, filed by three California communities, name 20 energy companies and their subsidiaries and allege they tried to hinder action to address climate change.

The suits allege the companies are at least partially responsible for damages caused by climate change like shoreline erosion, claiming they deliberately spread misinformation and doubt on climate change.

Martin Olszynski, an assistant law professor at the University of Calgary, told the Alberta Morning News on Sunday, just like with tobacco, we’re not always aware of the risks associated with something at first.

“They become very broadly used and it’s only after a matter of time that we start to realize that there are maybe some problems. So the question then becomes what is the responsibility of the manufacturers, the various companies that are engaged in that activity to bring those risks to the forefront at least so that consumers are fully engaged?”

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He said while both sides know these won’t be easy cases, it could be considered a win for the plaintiffs if the companies make even little changes.

“That it brings these companies to the table in a bit more of a pro-active way and has them thinking very seriously about their business activities or their business plans, about their future plans.”

The lawsuits draw on legal precedents used against tobacco companies in the 1990s.