Law Times

Law times • august 25 / SEPTEMBER 1, 2008 NEWS PAGE 5 Get access to justice for $1,000: judge BY ROBERT TODD Law Times QUEBEC CITY — For as little as $1,000 and a quick stop to a local electronics shop, courts across Canada can make justice more accessible to the public, ac- cording to an Ontario Superior Court judge. "Paper is a passport into the justice system today," said Justice Thomas Granger on a panel dealing with the use of technology to improve access to justice, at the recent Canadian Bar Association conference. "The judiciary must insist that electronic documents be used in all aspects of litigation. Not just trials, in motions, on pretrials, it has to be used," said Granger. "And electronic courtrooms can be established in all judicial centres at an af- fordable cost, and individual judges and lawyers who refuse to use electronic technology should not be able to block the use of such technology." Noting that justice must be both timely and affordable, he said appointing more judges is only one part of that equation. "You could appoint 50 more judges, but if I as a litigant can't afford to go to court, what dif- ference does it make to me?" he said. "What we have to strive for is to find a system that will reduce legal fees." To prove his point, Granger presented a cost-savings analy- sis applied to a case he sat on a few years ago. The estimate was based on a 300-day trial. If five photocopies were made of all disclosed docu- ments in the case, estimated at 50,000 pages, the cost would be $62,500, he said. It would cost $12,000 to scan electronically the same number of pages, said Granger. He estimated legal fees for six counsel sitting five hours each day at about $6,000 per day. But Granger went further to consider time wasted as the judge, witnesses, and counsel access an estimated 25 exhibits a day. Assuming that it would take about two minutes for the group to collectively access a sentence in a paper exhibit, he found that would add up to about $300,000 in lawyers fees over the course of the trial. But it would cost only $12,000 in lawyers fees based on an estimate of five seconds to access a document electronically, said Granger. So, the overall cost savings for the electronic trial — $12,000 to scan documents rather than $62,500 on photocopies, and $12,000 to get counsel to access exhibits rather than $300,000 — was $338,500, said Granger. "If counsel came to you before the trial started, as a judge, and said these are the savings if we do it electronically, I don't think a judge could say, 'No, no, no, I don't use a computer,'" he said. "It would be especially hard for a judge to say that if the clients were sitting behind counsel." Granger — noting resistance from judges who are less techni- cally savvy — said the only com- puter literacy a judge requires to Ontario Education Legislation (LT 1-4x4).indd 1 hear a case electronically is the ability to turn on a computer, use a mouse, click on the screen and open a program, use the mouse to drag and drop icons from the screen, and copy and paste files from a CD-ROM to a program file. Granger said there's an ob- ligation for judges to learn how to do their job in an elec- tronic environment, due to the cost savings involved, both for courts and litigants. Further, said Granger, the cost savings should force judges to demand that litigation be conducted electronically. "The judiciary has to lead the way," he said, adding it's not enough for judges to wait and see if lawyers request to have their cases heard electronically. "They have to lead the way because they determine the manner in which evidence is adduced in a courtroom," said Granger. "And also, judges have a responsibility to the public to ensure that cases are tried in the most cost-effective manner." In terms of court adminis- tration costs, Granger said any courtroom can be converted for an electronic trial with the purchase of four comput- er monitors, a video splitter, cables, and an external hard drive, which can all be pur- chased for under $1,000 and set up in under 30 minutes. Granger added that using technology also can improve lawyers' advocacy, both by giv- ing better command of evidence (for example, making it easier to find documents using com- puter search tools, he said), and to make evidence better stand out in a judge's mind. He added that hidden data within an electronic document also should be part of the court record, but is lost when paper copies are filed. The challenge faced by coun- sel, said Granger, is that they must know as soon as opening a litigation file that electronic documents can be displayed in the courtroom, will be accepted Ontario Education Legislation 2008-2009 Consulting Editor: Fay Faraday Published August each year by the court as exhibits, and that an electronic record will be maintained "to the exclusion of paper," because if judges request paper copies for themselves and require a paper copy be filed to the court record, a cost increase is incurred, as counsel must prepare both versions. "We live in a changed world," said Granger, suggesting 98 per cent of all documents are now initially produced in an elec- tronic format and an average employee sends and delivers 4,000 e-mails every year. And between 75 and 80 per cent of Canadians use the internet daily, he said, suggesting more litigants are now likely confused by the use of paper rather than electronic documents. Granger shot down the sug- gestion that cost savings for liti- gants is only realized on large- document cases. If a family law case in a ru- ral area is cut to two days from three, the parties get one more day of pay on top of potential legal-fee savings from less time spent preparing paper docu- ments, he said. Justice Colin Campbell of the Ontario Superior Court, who is on the advisory board of the law think-tank the Sedona Conference and also spoke on the panel, said, "There needs to be a dialogue between the bench and the bar, starting as early on as we can," in terms of how documents will be pre- sented in litigation. The panel's moderator, Su- perior Court of Quebec Justice Carol Cohen, noted that tech- nology is impacting justice in unforeseen ways. "Technology and justice is more than just how to run Word or how to run WordPerfect on your computer, and how to take notes in court," she said. "I believe technology is the earthquake beneath the feet of superior courts," said Cohen. LT The mortgage discharge notification feature automatically notifies the vendor's law firm of the registration of a discharge on the property – reducing the uncertainty regarding the mortgage discharge status and the number of calls to lenders. Quickly and easily communicate the discharge particulars to the purchaser's law firm with a click of your mouse. REAL ESTATE CLOSING FUNDS MANAGEMENT FROM YOUR DESKTOP From obtaining certified cheques to waiting for the notification of the mortgage discharge, time spent on administration can slow down your real estate practice – no matter how fast you run. Using the Closure® service, you can securely manage the transfer of real estate closing funds online reducing the need for certified cheques, bank drafts, direct deposits and couriers. 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All rights reserved. Teranet_LT_Aug25-Sep1_08.indd 1 This consolidation gives you the complete and up- to-date education statutes and regulations all in one source, including: Education Act and selected regulations Colleges Collective Bargaining Act Education Quality and Accountability Office Act, 1996 Immunization of School Pupils Act and regulation Municipal Conflict of Interest Act Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996 and selected regulations Provincial Schools Negotiations Act Sabrina's Law, 2005 Teachers' Pension Act Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (updated to Dec. 21/07) Teaching Profession Act and regulation By-laws of the Ontario Teachers' Federation updated to Sept. 2007 Policy/Program Memorandum Nos. 128, 141, 142, 144, 145 & 147 New in 2008 Education Act, Part XIII.1, "Nutritional Standards" (will come into force on proclamation) Regulations added under the Education Act: Suspension and Expulsion of Pupils O. Reg. 472/07 Permanent Improvement – Definition O. Reg. 580/07 Letters of Permission O. Reg. 142/08 Transition Provisions Relating to the School Board Boundary Changes Made by Ontario Regulation 117/08 O. Reg. 178/08 New regulation under the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996: Public Interest Committee – Members O. Reg. 370/07 Re-enacted regulations for the "2008-2009" school board fiscal years: Calculation of Average Daily Enrolment O. Reg. 83/08 Calculation of Fees for Pupils O. Reg. 84/08 Grants for Student Needs O. Reg. 85/08 www.canadalawbook.ca www.lawtimesnews.com 8/20/08 3:03:32 PM 8/20/08 9:23:00 AM CONTACT US For more information and to register for the Closure service, visit www.closure.ca or contact us at: 416-360-1190 press 5 1-800-208-5263 press 5 info@closure.ca RA UN H NG N UI PN YG O S UH R E O S 3694/08.08

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