Commencing the Civil Litigation Action

• Author: Tina Kamakaris/Jane Kamakaris/Louis Kamakaris
• Pages: 135-156

135

Chapter 10 Commencing the Civil Litigation Action

CHAPTER 10

is chapter begins the civil litigation action and provides practical points that are usually

considered when starting a civil litigation action.

COMMENCING THE CIVIL LITIGATION ACTION

Rule 14, Rules of Civil Procedure

Statement of claim, Π

• issued, served within six months of

date of issue, and filed with proof

of service

Information for court use, Π

• not issued or served

• filed with statement of claim

Π (Greek pi) = Plaintiff

or

Notice of action, Π

• issued (served later with statement of claim)

Information for court use, Π

• not issued or served

• filed with notice of action

Statement of claim, Π

• filed (not issued) within 30 days of date of issue of notice

of action

• served, together with notice of action, within six months

of date of issue of notice of action, and filed with proof

of service

THE CIVIL LITIGATION ACTION

In civil litigation actions, the plainti and defendant are adversaries in the full sense of the word.

Each ghts hard to win the case. ey do not make any admissions or concede anything to the

other party unless the law requires them to do so, or it is to their advantage to do so.

e step-by-step progression to trial resembles that of a tennis match. e ball, which starts on

the plainti’s side of the court, goes to the defendant’s side, and back and forth between the two

players. e plainti hopes to prove his or her case in court on the basis of the facts and the law

and to obtain compensation from the court. e most frequent form of compensation is an

award of money and is known as damages. Unless the parties settle out of court, all actions for

damages begin with a statement of claim and end with a judgment.

The court office and court fees Much of your work involves either written or personal

contact with the local court oce, which provides services relating to civil litigation actions. e

court oce charges a fee for each service it provides. e amount of the court fees is set out in a

schedule of fees under the Administration of Justice Act. e court fees schedule is available on the

website of the Ministry of the Attorney General. Make cheques payable to the Minister of Finance.

COMMENCING THE

CIVIL LITIGATION

ACTION

Copyright © 2022 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.

136 Legal Office Procedures

STARTING THE CIVIL LITIGATION ACTION

Rule 14 of the Rules of Civil Procedure governs how civil litigation actions are to be started.

Subrule 14.03(1) requires that actions be started by a statement of claim or a notice of action.

Since these documents originate the civil litigation action, they are collectively referred to as an

originating process. When you prepare a statement of claim or a notice of action, your rm acts

for the plainti in the action. Prior to preparing the statement of claim or the notice of action,

however, much preliminary work is usually carried out, some of which includes:

Opening a new le, making reminders/ticklers, checking for conict of interest, conducting new

client identication and verication, preparing a retainer and preparing any medical authoriza-

tions, Precedent 10.6. (Medical authorizations are usually required in cases involving personal

injury so that doctors and hospitals who treated a client would release the medical information.)

All of these tasks (except for the medical authorization which is inapplicable in the case at hand)

have already been completed in Chapters 2 and 3, complete with screen prints and precedents,

for our new client NICHOLAS ROMANO, as follows:

NICHOLAS ROMANO — NEW FILE SUMMARY

New client: Nicholas Romano

Address: 345 Bogart Avenue

Waterwell, Ontario

D7M 2U6

Telephone: 905-444-3777

Re: Wrongful Dismissal

Defendant:

Eastern Cast Iron Corporation

9 Cloud Street

Waterwell, ON D3K 4B2

Tasks Completed in Chapter 2 Tasks Completed in Chapter 3

1. New Client No. 2887

2. New Matter No. 3005

3. File label

4. Online appointment and online calendar

5. Conict search

6. Identity verication

7. Online reminder

1. Retainer

2. Online retainer deposit - $1,000 trust

account

3. Online cheque requisition re ling of

statement of claim

ROMANO v. EASTERN CAST IRON CORPORATION

Re: Wrongful Dismissal

Mr. Nicholas Romano was red from his job. We begin his wrongful dismissal case in this

chapter. e story unfolds in subsequent chapters as we carry the action to trial. As you

will note from the statement of claim (general), Precedent 10.1, Mr.Romano is suing East-

ern Cast Iron Corporation for ring him as executive marketing supervisor. We have also

prepared the information for court use, Precedent 10.2, which we must le in court when we

issue the statement of claim. e notice of action in Precedent 10.3 and the corresponding

statement of claim in Precedent 10.4 show you the alternative procedure which would apply

if we needed more time to prepare Mr. Romano’s statement of claim. See how Eastern Cast

Iron Corporation defends in the next chapter.

Copyright © 2022 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.