Lexpert magazine features articles and columns on developments in legal practice management, deals and lawsuits of interest in Canada, the law and business issues of interest to legal professionals and businesses that purchase legal services.
Issue link: https://digital.carswellmedia.com/i/1541334
4 www.lexpert.ca Feature PROPOSED CHANGES to Ontario's Rules of Civil Procedure offer promising strategies for cutting down drawn-out business dispute timelines, but the success of those changes hinges on a broader shi away from the justice system's culture of "maximalism" and "complacency," commercial litigators say. at shi will require an invest- ment by both the courts – largely in the form of judicial resources – and lawyers throughout the province. "ose of us who've grown up litigating disputes have almost come to accept that bringing a business dispute in Ontario's court system to trial is going to be a multi- year endeavour," says Ian Matthews, a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP whose exper- tise spans complex commercial litigation and appellate disputes. "at expectation is one that in part stems from the fact that when you need to get in front of a court or other judicial officer, sometimes the next available date is six, eight, 10 months away." Matthews adds, "All participants in the system – from the courts and judges to counsel to the parties – [play] their part to achieve timely justice." Moya Graham, a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP whose practice includes corpo- rate and commercial litigation, says, "e Feature A TURN AWAY FROM MAXIMALISM ONTARIO'S CIVIL RULES HAVE LONG FOSTERED THE NORMALIZATION OF PROTRACTED TIMELINES FOR COMMERCIAL DISPUTES. LITIGATORS TELL JESSICA MACH THAT THE SUCCESS OF PROPOSED RULE CHANGES DEPENDS ON A TRUE CULTURE SHIFT biggest risk of the current proposals is that cultural shi. "If it doesn't come and the old maximalist litigation ways of thinking about our cases and about litigation procedure are allowed to operate within the reformed system, I think that will have the biggest negative impact on the reform system's ability to deliver on its goals of more streamlined litigation and less delay," she adds. e proposed reforms were unveiled in April in a 122-page report by the Civil Rules Review Working Group, a committee launched by Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey and Ontario Superior Court of Justice Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz in 2024 to improve the provincial justice system. According to the CRR Working Group, which is distinct from the Civil Rules Committee historically tasked with reviewing adjustments to the Rules of Civil Procedure, the proposed changes aim to tackle a long- standing "culture of maximalism" that has reduced access to justice, raised dispute costs, and introduced "excessive delays" in the civil justice system. If implemented, the proposed changes would significantly overhaul the current civil justice system, with changes like the elimination of oral examinations, new pre-litigation protocols, and an obligation to resolve disputes within two years.