Law Times

PAGE 2 NEWS January 17, 2011 • Law Times Civil justice reforms working: AG BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times Claims Court from the Superior Court shows reforms introduced a year ago are working. New fi gures show the Supe- T rior Court dealt with 11,652 fewer civil actions last year, a 17-per-cent drop from the 2009 statistic. At the same time, the Small Claims Court dealt with 6,337 more actions, an 11-per-cent increase over the previous year. At the beginning of 2010, the provincial government implemented dozens of civil court reforms based on recom- mendations by former associate chief justice Coulter Osborne. At the heart of the change was the increase in the Small Claims Court monetary limit to $25,000 from $10,000. "More cases are being resolved through the Small Claims Court he provincial government says a sharp swing in civil claims to the Small for civil disputes in the Superior Court worth between $25,000 and $100,000 when in the past it was available only for those valued at $10,000 to $25,000. At the same time, the reforms introduced the principle of pro- portionality that encourages litigants to keep proceedings in line with the lawsuit's total value, while frivolous cases are now easi- er to eliminate at an earlier stage. "It's early days, but the direc- 'It's early days, but the direction is right, and that's what we're looking for,' says Chris Bentley. procedure," Attorney General Chris Bentley tells Law Times. "And [there are] fewer in the Su- perior Court, and that's important because the Small Claims Court is faster and more aff ordable." Th e eff ectiveness of other changes is harder to measure, Bentley notes. Th e province in- troduced a simplifi ed procedure tion is right, and that's what we're looking for," Bentley says. In a statement, Ontario Bar Association president Lee Aka- zaki agreed. "Making the civil justice system more aff ordable and accessible is no small task, but the progress we have seen under the 2010 civil justice re- forms has proven that this goal is achievable. We look forward to continuing to work with govern- ment as further improvements roll out in the year ahead." At the same time, Bentley notes the court forms assistant, which makes Small Claims Court documents available online along with instructions on how to fi ll them out, has made a big diff er- ence, especially for unrepresented litigants. "It can be intimidating looking at legal forms if you're not actually taken through it. It can be intimidating for a lawyer, let alone those who aren't trained. You fi ll them out and just take them down to court. Th at's deliv- ering justice in a more aff ordable way for people." Jordan Farkas, a Toronto lawyer who founded mrsmall claimscourt.ca, welcomes the infl ux of new litigants to the Small Claims Court. "People who would traditionally have paid for a lawyer for claims over $10,000 are defi nitely get- ting access to justice," he says. "In the past, you could have $25,000 cases in the higher court, and it was crazy because even with simplifi ed procedure, lawyers' fees were eating signifi - cantly into the claim amount." Still, Farkas isn't so happy with other changes, including an amendment that eliminated the option of service by regu- lar mail. Instead, plaintiff s had to serve by registered mail or courier with receipt verifi ed by the defendant. "Defendants can evade service quite easily. A lot of these debtors knew they were going to be served, so when a suspicious package ar- rived that they weren't expect- ing, they wouldn't sign off ." Up until Jan. 1, debtors could even avoid service by having a spouse or a member of the same household sign for the package since only the defendant could acknowledge receipt. At the be- ginning of this year, however, the rule changed again to close that loophole so that litigants could eff ect service with the signature of "any person who appears to be a member of the same house- hold" as the defendant. "Th at's a smart move, but it won't deal completely with evasion because debtors will still be on alert not to sign off ," Farkas says. In addition, with increased When More is Too Much demand at the Small Claims Court, Farkas fi nds some servic- es are becoming bogged down as resources are slow to follow the shift from the Superior Court. "Th ings are defi nitely slower at the moment. I'm hoping that will improve. Th ere are some wrinkles, and it will take some time to work out." Farkas advises people to at- tend court in person to fi le doc- uments and issue claims even if it means taking time off work. In one instance, after he mailed in a statement of claim, he wait- ed more than two months for it to be issued. "I called the clerk, and they said [to] forget about it. Since 2010, their mailroom is ridiculous." Farkas also warns potential claimants not to take the Small Claims Court lightly, especially if their matter is near the top end of the limit. In those cases, he urges them to get legal ad- vice. "A lot of people think they can do it on their own, but in many cases, like a wrongful dis- missal, it can be pretty technical and law-heavy. A lot of people who should be getting legal ad- vice before they go and fi le a claim are not." For his part, Bentley hopes to help unrepresented litigants by putting more resources on- line. "We want more upfront support to make sure people coming into the system have opportunities to resolve their case before it goes to trial." In the wake of new reforms Irrelevant cases chewing up your research time? Get the best cases first. There's no bones about it. BestCase not only has a comprehensive collection of selected by experts to identify the most relevant cases first. BestCase is the only unreported decisions, but our diamond image helps you quickly find decisions source for Canada's leading law reports, such as the Dominion Law Reports and Canadian Criminal Cases. It also contains case law you won't find anywhere else. You can print or download PDFs of both reported and unreported decisions – no photocopying required. And BestCase costs you less! For more information visit canadalawbook.ca Canada Law Book, a Thomson Reuters business www.lawtimesnews.com in Alberta that mandate a dis- pute-resolution process such as mediation before any civil case can go to trial, Bentley says he'd like to see a more central role for those alternatives. "Th ere's me- diation available in the Superior Court for civil trials. Making it even more available and mak- ing it available earlier would be good. Th e more you can pro- vide people with opportunities to resolve without the full court fi ght, the better." LT

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