On the Record, Episode 11 is about cross-examining Police Officers. Mick Hassell interviews Calvin Barry, an experienced criminal defence lawyer who has conducted over 60 jury trials. Calvin has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to cross-examination. He is a former Crown Attorney which gives him added insight on how Police Officers prepare to testify in direct […]
Author: Trial Lawyer Blog
On the Record, Episode 10 is about one of Ontario’s most sophisticated trial advocacy programs. Mick Hassell interviews Chris Bentley who is the Executive Director of Ryerson’s Law Practice Program (LPP). Ryerson’s LPP put on a 3 day intensive trial advocacy program featureing Sheila Block of Torys LLP and James Seckinger, Professor at the University of Notre Dame. The calibre […]
On the Record, Episode 9 is about the trial teamwork required for major personal injury trials. Mick Hassell interviews Adam Wagman who is a Senior Partner at Howie Sacks & Henry LLP, one of Canada’s foremost personal injury law firms. Adam Wagman and Brad Moscato and the team at HSH recently won a near $3 million jury award in a lengthy brain injury trial for their client […]
On the Record, Episode 8 is about a litigation metaphor: taking fruit from a tree. Mick Hassell interviews Gary Farb of Clark Farb Fiksel LLP. Gary is a commercial litigator and a mediator with decades of experience. Gary shares his analogy of litigation as taking fruit from a tree, all the way from a demand letter (shaking the tree) to […]
On the Record, Episode 7 is an interview about the strategy of trial, in particular the strategy of questions asked and the choreography of the Courtroom. Mick Hassell interviews Jack Fireman who has 50 years of experience in personal injury with extensive experience on the defence side and as of recording was working on the plaintiff side. Mr. Fireman suggests […]
On the Record, Episode 6 is an interview about the the justice system and the importance of reading the Court’s decision in order to be able to make informed commentary about the outcome. This is all in the context of the high profile Jian Ghomeshi judgment. Mick Hassell interviews Darryl Singer of Singer Barristers. Many people are commenting on the […]
The technical term for most lawsuits in Ontario is a “civil action”. It’s where someone is suing someone else, usually for money or property. Some lawsuits follow a separate process known as a “civil application” discussed at this link. The steps in a civil action are discussed below, with links to resources on each step. […]
On the Record, Episode 5 is an interview about the intangible skills necessary for success at trial and beyond: creativity, confidence and courageousness. Mick Hassell has the honour of interviewing legendary Criminal Barrister Karen McArthur. Karen McArthur is a connector, lawyer, speaker and author. She has acted as defence counsel in some of the most high profile […]
Over the past 5 years, an average of 77,537 Ontarians begin family law proceedings each year and since there is an applicant and respondent, that’s an average 155,074 people getting involved in new proceedings annually. This is according to new statistics from the Ministry of the Attorney General. There is an average of 55,341 motions in […]
Peter Carey of Loopstra Nixon LLP and Tanya Walker of Walker Law Professional Corporation are chairing the program on March 1, 2016 from 9 am – 11 am. Mick Hassell will join Charles Beall of Bales Beall LLP and Robert Hine of Goldman Hine LLP as part of a panel on The Effect of Withdrawal or Discharge on […]
Litigation is a war of information. I don’t intend to over-simplify, but there are 3 steps in every case and trial: The gathering of information is done through client and witness interviews, investigations, affidavits of documents and examinations for discovery. The processing of information is how you take the information and organise it so that […]
At trial, documents are generally considered to be accurate and reliable. Conversely, at trial, witnesses are generally considered to be subject to perception, memory and communication problems. Oral testimony in the absence of documentation, is considered dubious. The solution is simple: get all witnesses to write out witness statements as soon as possible. The statement could be an […]
If you have a case heading in the direction of trial, please check out trial book HOW TO WINg A TRIAL on leveraging the 6 Trial Fundamentals to prepare for and conduct trials. This article outlines what you need to know about To Be Spoken To (TBST) Court in Toronto for civil matters. TBST Court […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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. […]
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, […]