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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

What are people going to trial for in Ontario?

Canada is a litigious country, 1 out of every 100 Canadians starts a civil legal proceeding each year (excluding family law).  3.6 out of every 10,000 Canadians will have a trial each year. In Ontario before the Superior Court of Justice, 96.4% of civil cases are disposed of prior to trial and 3.6% of all […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Trial Occurs in 9.7% of Small Claims Court Cases

Here are some interesting Small Claims Court statistics from the Ministry of the Attorney General over the past 5 years: It is shocking that only 28.7% of cases have a settlement conference.  This means cases are either settling or are proceeding undefended.  It’s more likely that they are undefended.  And they are probably collection proceedings. The […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

How to Prepare a Witness to Testify

Lawyers are often too busy getting themselves ready for trials and hearings to spend an adequate amount of time preparing their witnesses.  While not ideal, this is understandable given the number of things on the go when a trial or hearing approaches. Here are some ideas on how to prepare a witness, broken into 3 […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

53% of Civil Litigation Cases Settle around the Pre-Trial Conference

The odds of your next pre-trial conference settling the case is roughly a coin toss. This is according to statistics from the Ministry of the Attorney General over the past 5 years. 53% of case that had a pre-trial settled before trial.  47% did not settle. Bearing in mind that 2 issues are discussed at the pre-trial conference, […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Employment Law Trials

Just over 5% of employment law cases get to trial (click here for some stats). But if you’re heading into an employment law pre-trial conference, the odds of you getting to trial are approximately 50-50. Trial may be a mere few weeks to a couple of months after the pre-trial conference, so if you’ve got […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Personal Injury Trials in Ontario

Over the past 5 years, 59.26% or roughly 60% of all trials before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice civil trials have been personal injury-related. 45% of all civil trials in Ontario were motor vehicle accidents and 15% of all civil trials were other types of accidents. Over the past 5 years, an average of […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Top 10 Business Disputes Going to Trial in Ontario

These numbers will be of interest to commercial litigators in Ontario and across Canada. What are the top 10 areas for business disputes?  Which business disputes go to trial? In 2014, 66,783 claims were issued in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (excluding Small Claims Court), 31,710 of which were business disputes falling within the 10 most […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Motor Vehicle Accident Trials Commonplace in Ontario

Motor vehicle accident claims account for roughly 30% of all claims issued in Ontario.  Not surprisingly, a majority of claims issued fall into the ordinary procedure: claims over $100,000.  In fact, 97.5% of motor vehicle accident claims are issued in the ordinary procedure. Significantly, motor vehicle accident trials account for roughly 45% of all trials […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Employment Law Trials On The Rise – Over 5% Go To Trial

Just over 5% of all employment cases started before the Ontario Superior Court end up at trial. And the number of employment law trials has grown in recent years.  According to the Ministry of the Attorney General: In 2012, there were 109 employment trials, 33 simplified procedure and 76 ordinary procedure.  This is out of 2,240 claims issued. […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

What are people suing about in Ontario and Canada?

Canada is a litigious country.  1 out of every 100 Canadians starts a legal proceeding each year. Click on the link at the bottom of this post to see what people are suing about.  Some highlights: Click on the link below for full details: Hassell Trial Counsel – What Are People Suing About in Ontario […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Cross-Examination CPD for law firms

Hassell Trial Counsel is delighted to offer cross-examination CPD seminars to law firms. Join trial lawyer Mick Hassell for an interactive seminar on how to take a systematic approach to rigorously prepare a cross-examination. The cross-examination seminar is highly relevant for litigators preparing to examine a witness in any context: discoveries, cross-examinations on affidavits, trials and hearings. […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

The Power of Trial Judges

The Supreme Court of Canada is giving more and more deference to Trial Judges and the result is that Trial Judges have enhanced power not only within the legal system and also within the government, since the judiciary branch is 1 of 3 branches of government. Sean Fine, Justice Writer for The Globe and Mail, […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Trial Lawyer Podcast: Opening Statements with Jim Hassell

On the Record, Episode 4 is our first interview and we kick the interviews off talking about opening statements. Michael Hassell has the honour of interviewing his father Jim Hassell. Jim is recently retired from Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP, where he has 4 decades of experience in labour relations and employment law.  Jim conducted hundreds […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Fundamentals of Direct Examination

While cross-examination may be more exciting, direct examination is still very important. A good direct examiner remains quietly in the backdrop, helping the witness tell the story.  Witness preparation for direct examination is very important so the witness appreciates they are the star storyteller and what to do with open-ended questions.  The nature of open-ended […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Small Claims Court Trials

Some key considerations in preparing for and conducting trials in Small Claims Court, from the perspective of a trial lawyer (sidenote, you can purchase a Small Claims Court trial checklist here): Settlement Conference Rule 13.05 presents a lot of opportunity to seek orders at the settlement conference helpful to the case and trial. Orders from […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Fundamentals of Cross-Examination

Cross-examination is the most important thing a trial lawyer does. Judges and Juries love cross-examination, it is where things get interesting. Cross-examination gives the trial lawyer the opportunity to advance their own client’s story using the other side’s witnesses.  This is often the most persuasive way to tell a story.  This idea of building a story […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Common Objections

How objectionable should you be at trial? As in life, as unobjectionable as possible.  Yet there are times when lines are being crossed, certain evidence needs to be excluded and the record needs to be protected by reflecting your objection. Also, objections help make sure that evidence is being presented fairly for both sides. We’ve put together […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Law of Evidence Fundamentals

If you’re going to trial, beyond knowing your case, Courtroom procedure and the law that applies to your case, you need to know the law of evidence in order to make sure your evidence is admissible. There is nothing worse than having a strong case but not appreciating how the evidence must be introduced. We’ve put […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Ontario Evidence Act Notices

If you’re going to trial in Ontario, you need to be aware of the need for and how to complete Evidence Act notices. For information on Evidence Act notices for business records, please click here. For information on Evidence Act notices relating to medical reports, please click here. Hassell Trial Counsel is trial counsel for law firms in […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Getting your Witnesses to Trial: Summons or Subpoena, Attendance Money, Logistics

Sometimes you need to track down your eyewitnesses.  The good samaritan leaves a business card or cell number, but many disappear.  Get on top of this fast. Even if you know how to track them down, cooperation can be a challenge because most witnesses do not want to get involved in a lawsuit or criminal […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Exhibit Lists

As your trial or hearing progresses, what info should you track as exhibits are entered? The exhibit number/letter, date if it’s a document (or note it is undated), description of the exhibit and who entered it (plaintiff / Crown or defendant / defence). Exhibit management can require the assistance of a second member of your […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

Speeding Ticket Trials

If you’re a lawyer, you’ve probably had family and friends tell you they’ve got a speeding ticket and what should they do. If you’re a family member or friend of a lawyer with a speeding ticket, you may be searching for answers online. Here’s some information, not legal advice, for speeding ticket trials: The Stop […]

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Ontario Superior Court of Justice Trials

The Best Text on Cross-Examination

I’ve been recommending this book to a number of lawyers lately. By far, the best text on cross-examination is: Cross-Examination: Science and Techniques By Larry Pozner and Roger Dodd The book is not light reading, but it contains the most thorough treatment of how to prepare and implement a cross-examination. Trial Resources Resources by a […]