|

|

|

|

There are three main stages involved in Small Claims Court litigation:

1. The Pleadings stage
2. The settlement conference
3. The trial

In order to start a small claims action, you must prepare a document called the Plaintiff's Claim. This document sets out the parties to the action, the nature of the action, the main events/facts surrounding the action and the damages sought by the plaintiff from the defendant(s).

After the Plaintiff's Claim is prepared, this is filed with the court and the court clerk assigns a court file number and stamps the applicable forms. This is called "issuing" the claim.

After the claim is issued, the plaintiff must serve the claim on the defendant(s) by personally giving a copy of the claim to the defendant(s) or a proper representative (if the defendant is a company).

If you are the defendant in a small claims action and you are served with a Plaintiff's Claim, which you wish to contest, you must then prepare a document called the Defence. Defendants must prepare and file their Defence with the court within 20 calendar days of being served with the claim, unless they have been granted an extension by the plaintiff or their lawyer.

If the defendant is also owed money by the plaintiff in connection with this action, or if the defendant wishes to seek contirbution and indemnity for the damages sought by the plaintiff from another party, they will have to prepare and file a document called a Defendant's Claim.

Once the Defence in prepared, it is filed with the court and a copy of this document is mailed to the plaintiff by the court clerk. At this time, the court clerk will also begin the process of scheduling a settlement conference within 90 days of the date that the first Defence is filed.

Settlement conferences are to take place in every defended action within 90 days after the first Defence is filed.

Settlement conferences are intended to help parties narrow the issues involved in their dispute, encourage settlement of the action, provide for disclosure of relevant facts and evidence, and assist the parties in preparation for their trial.

These conferences are very informal and normally involve the parties, their lawyers or agents and a Deputy Judge (who will not be gowned). They normally last between 30 minutes to an hour.

The manner in which settlement conferences are conducted will largely depend on the Deputy Judge. Some Deputy Judges will hear the parties in order and then offer their own thoughts, while others proceed to ask specific questions to the parties or their lawyers right from the beginning.

If the matter does not settle at the settlement conference, the Deputy Judge will normally order that the action proceed to trial, if it appears that the parties are ready. It is possible for a Deputy Judge to order a subsequent settlement conference before proceeding to trial.

The trial occurs before a different Deputy Judge than the one who presided over the settlement
conference.

At the trial, the parties will have the opportunity to tell their own story of the events surrounding the action and present any documentary evidence in support of their claim or their defence. The parties will also have the opportunity to call witnesses to support their case and call expert evidence if necessary.

The Deputy Judge will then make an order depending on the evidence that she/he accepts from the parties. The Deputy Judge will either dismiss the Plaintiff's Claim or make a finding against the defendant(s) and order them to pay money to the plaintiff. Even if the Deputy Judge orders the defendant(s) to pay money to the plaintiff, the quantum of damages (or the amount of money) will not necessarily be the amount being sought by the plaintiff in the Plaintiff's Claim.