What is Litigation?

• Litigation is, at its heart, dispute resolution using the court process. If you have a dispute that you are unable to solve on your own, you may need to begin the process of litigation.

• There are two main places people go to settle their disputes, depending on the size of the dispute — small claims court (for claims up to $50,000), and the court of King’s Bench (for claims over $50,000). There are also specialized divisions of courts and tribunals for specific kinds of claims (like tax court, criminal court, and family court).

• These types of claims are often referred to as “general litigation” which is another service that we offer at Farrell Law. General litigation files are usually paid on an hourly basis, rather than a contingency.

  An Overview of the Litigation Process

• To begin litigation, one party (the “Plaintiff”) will serve the other party (the “Defendant”) with a Statement of Claim, setting out why the Plaintiff believes the court should make the Defendant do something or give the Plaintiff something. The Defendant then files a response called a Statement of Defence, setting out why they believe they should not have to. At that point, the Defendant may also file a counterclaim, if they want something from the Plaintiff (beyond some money for “wasting time with a lawsuit” which is something people say so often that it is just assumed the Defendant will ask for).

• After that, both parties assemble and exchange lists of relevant documents, and then each side is entitled to question the other in advance of trial to try and discover any further facts.

• Finally, expert reports are exchanged, and a trial date is set. (this whole process is somewhat abbreviated in small claims)

• At any point in this process, the parties may engage in settlement discussions, and they often do. Other procedural issues may also come up along the way that result in miniature court battles to resolve.

• Overall, the process of litigation usually takes one (for small claims) to two years (for King’s Bench), although it can take even longer depending on the case (class actions, for example take longer than this).

Preparing to talk to a Lawyer

• Try to figure out what it is that you hope to achieve. What is it that you want a court to do?

• Write out the story in advance, and go step by step regarding how you got to where you are today.

• Assemble any relevant documents and put them in a logical order. Usually, this will mean chronologically.

• When trying to decide whether a document is relevant, err on the side of overinclusion. Just because you provide a document to a lawyer does not mean it will be provided to the other side, but it is better for the lawyer to have access to all of the information. Disclose the documents that are both helpful and harmful.

• In a dispute regarding money, try and make sense of the accounting.

• Be aware of your limitation periods. For any given wrong you generally only have a limited time to sue before your rights are gone forever. In most cases, you must file a claim within 2 years of the date you knew that you had been wronged, however this is a gross oversimplification, and so the sooner you speak to a lawyer, the less likely you are to run in to a limitations problem.

• Prepare a budget and consider the costs and benefits of litigation.

Areas of Litigation

• Although litigation in any area shares certain fundamentals, it is often helpful to have a background in the specific area of the dispute. At Farrell Law, we have experience in the following areas:
  

  • Contracts

  • Corporate Disputes

    • Shareholder disputes

    • Corporate Governance Disputes

  • Torts

    • Personal Injuries

    • Product Liability

    • Physical or Sexual Assaults

    • Police Misconduct

  • Employment Disputes

  • Real Property Disputes

    • Aborted Sales/Misrepresentations

    • Condominium Disputes

    • Boundary Line Disputes

    • Ownership Disputes