New Claims Procedures

Small Claims Court – all claims up to $25,000

Simplified Claims Procedures – claims between $25,000 and $100,000

Small Claims Court: Not so “SMALL” any more!

On January 1, 2010 the Ontario Small Claims Court is expanding to include all claims up to $25,000 (up from the current limit of $10,000).

The Ontario Small Claims Court is a branch of the Superior Court of Justice. The Small Claims Court has the authority or jurisdiction to hear civil matters that involve the payment of money or the recovery of personal property. Cases in Small Claims Court proceed faster than those in regular court, and (like in regular court) there is a mandatory period for settlement discussion supervised by a Deputy Judge of the Small Claims Court. Small Claims Court is a suitable forum in which to bring claims up to $25,000 (or for claims larger than $25,000 if you are willing to forego the excess).  The Small Claims Court is designed to be less expensive than regular court – especially if you choose to hire a lawyer to represent you.  Please feel free to speak to your lawyer at Nelligan O’Brien Payne, LLP about the availability of a flat-rate fee structure for Small Claims Court matters. 
 

Simplified Claims Procedure: Now up to $100,000

In Ontario Courts, claims between $25,000 and $100,000 must proceed by way of “simplified procedure.”  Simplified procedure, as the name suggests, was designed to deal with cost and delay issues in civil litigation by reducing the number of pretrial procedures in cases involving amounts in this range.  The main features of simplified procedure are:

• Pre-trial oral examination is limited to two hours (unlike 7 hours or more for regular matters)

• There is a mandatory mediation session within 180 days of a first defence to a claim

• The ultimate disposition of the claim may be made after a “summary trial”, where evidence may be introduced by way of an affidavit, cross-examination of all witnesses is limited to 50 minutes, and oral arguments are limited to 45 minutes for each party

Simplified procedure is designed to get results for parties without undue delay or expense.  If you have a moderate claim greater than $25,000, please speak with your lawyer about proceeding by way of simplified procedure.