Civil Procedure (Law 225) is designed to teach students how to work with the statutory rules and regulations that govern civil litigation in Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal for Ontario. This is an intensely practical course. Aside from various rules, we will consider common law and equitable doctrines that become relevant in the context of procedural law. By the end of the course, it is expected that students will be able to have sufficient knowledge to structure litigation including interlocutory procedures, advise clients on process and risk, understand the financial consequences of litigation for winners and losers alike, and have the ability to draft some fundamentally important documents.

Classes: Tuesday & Thursday, 10:00-11:30 a.m. (Law School Room 001)

Assessment: 100% Final Open-Book Examination

Course Materials: Please note that there is no casebook to purchase. The assigned readings are available to you online (through CanLII, Westlaw, or Quicklaw).

You should download the following:

The Courts of Justice Act

The Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure

The Limitations Act 2002

Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for the Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Consolidated Divisional Court Practice Direction

Law Society of Ontario, Rules of Professional Conduct

We will refer to these materials often and you will need to have a copy for reference on the exam. If you wish, there are commercially published collections of annotated statutory materials available through the usual legal publishing houses (not recommended).

If you wish to purchase a textbook for reference, I recommend Morden & Perrell, The Law of Civil Procedure in Ontario, 4th Ed. (LexisNexis, 2020). It is a very nice text and is available in a student edition. There are also various reference works available in the library and through Westlaw and LexisNexis.


TOPICS & READINGS

Please note: the reading list may be revised during the term to reflect recent developments.

There is an online reference work, Civil Procedure and Practice in Ontario, 2nd Edition (CanLII).  I’ve included the relevant chapters (and sometimes other materials) in the reading list as background reading to be skimmed or read in greater detail as is your preference.


January 12, 2023

Introduction to the Course. No Reading.


January 17, 2023

I.  INTRODUCTION TO THE SUBJECT

Heather Hui-Litwin, General Matters, Rule 1 – Citation, Application, Interpretation, 2021 CanLIIDocs 1983

Barbara L. Grossman & Ara Basmadjian, Pre-Trial Procedures, Rule 49.01-.09 – Offer to Settle, 2021 CanLIIDocs 2041

_

(a) ‘Adversarial Justice’ and ‘Access to Justice’

Christie v. British Columbia (Attorney General)2007 SCC 21 (S.C.C.)

Van Delst v. Hronowsky, 2022 ONCA 881 (Ont. C.A.)

 

(b) What are these Rules I keep Hearing About???

“Rule”, “Rules”, and “subrule” refers to the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194 under the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43.

Rules 1-2

 

(c) Professionalism

Law Society of Upper Canada, Rules of Professional Conduct

Standard Life Assurance Co. v Elliott2007 CanLII 18579 (Ont. S.C.J.)

Best v. Ranking2016 ONCA 492 (Ont. C.A.)

Lecture Notes (1) – Introduction


January 19, 2023

(d) The Filter – Introduction to the ‘Costs Rules

Courts of Justice ActSection 131

Rules  4957.01

Barlow v Citadel General Assurance Co.2008 CanLII 3215 (Ont. S.C.J.)

Davies v. Clarington (Municipality)2009 ONCA 722 (Ont. C.A.)

Costa, Love, Badowich and Mandekic v. Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology (November 24, 2022, unreported, Ont. S.C.J. – costs)

Lecture Notes (2) – Introduction cont’d (costs)


II.  JURISDICTION: Jurisidiction Simpliciter & Forum Non Conveniens

Angela Swan, “Freedom from the Conflict of Laws Is in Your Grasp” (2020), 51 Advoc. Q. 21

_

Courts of Justice Act, Section 11(2)

Club Resorts Ltd. v. Van Breda, 2012 SCC 17 (S.C.C.)

Vale Canada Limited v. Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada, 2022 ONCA 862 (Ont. C.A.)

Lecture Notes (3) – Jurisdiction


January 26, 2023

III.  PARTIES

Background / Reference Reading:

Angelique Moss, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Parties and Joinder, Rule 7 – Parties Under Disability

Thomas Slade, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Parties and Joinder, Rule 13 – Intervention

_

Rules 56713

Gronnerud (Litigation Guardians of) v. Gronnerud Estate2002 SCC 38 (S.C.C.)

Lochner v Callanan2016 ONSC 1705 (Ont. S.C.J.)  [If you’re interested, the saga is recounted in Lochner v. Ontario Civilian Police Commission, 2020 ONCA 720 (Ont. C.A.)]

Halpern v. Toronto (City) Clerk, 2000 CanLII 29029 (Ont. Div. Ct.)

Hollinger Inc. v. Ravelston Corp.2008 ONCA 207 (Ont. C.A.)

Gligorevic v. McMaster2010 ONSC 3842 (Ont. S.C.J.)

Lecture Notes (4) – Parties


January 31, 2023

IV.  RES JUDICATA, ESTOPPEL, AND ABUSE OF PROCESS

Paul M. Perell, “Res Judicata and Abuse of Process” (2001), 24 Advocates’ Quarterly 189.

Toronto (City) v. C.U.P.E., Local 79, 2003 SCC 63 (S.C.C.)

Danyluk v. Ainsworth Technologies Inc., 2001 SCC 44 (S.C.C.)

Penner v. Niagara (Regional Police Services Board)2013 SCC 19 (S.C.C.)

Lecture Notes (5) – Estoppel and Res Judicata


Feb. 7, 2023

V.  LIMITATIONS

Christina Poretta and Rahim Punjani, The Clock Strikes- A Review of the Limitations Act, 2002, a Decade Later (2015), 44 Advocates’ Quarterly 346

Katherine T Di Tomaso, Limitations Act Chapters, 1. Definitions/Basic Limitation Period, Sections 1 – 5 AND Ultimate Limitation Periods/No Limitation Periods/General Rules/Transition, Sections 15 – 24

Debbie Boswell, Yola S Ventresca, Limitations Act Chapters, 2. Incapable Persons/Appointment of Litigation Guardian, Sections 6 – 9

Debbie Boswell, Yola S Ventresca, Limitations Act Chapters, 3. Attempted Resolutions, Successors, Acknowledgments, and Notices of Possible Claim, Sections 11 – 14

Limitations Act, 2002S.O. 2002, c. 24

M.(K.) v. M.(H.), [1992] 3 SCR 6

McConnell v. Huxtable2014 ONCA 86

Collins v. Cortez2014 ONCA 685

Brown v. Baum2016 ONCA 325

Independence Plaza 1 Associates, L.L.C. v. Figliolini2017 ONCA 44 (Ont. C.A.) 

Lecture Notes (6) – Limitations


Feb. 9, 2022

VI.  PLEADINGS

Background / Reference Reading:

Andrew Monkhouse, Lexa Cutler, Enbal Singer, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Pleadings, Rule 25 – Pleadings in Action, 2nd ed, 2022 CanLIIDocs 1008

Marcela Aroca, Stephen Yoker, Sid Brejak, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Motions and Applications, Rule 38 – Applications – Jurisdiction and Procedure

Examples of Pleadings:

Ikea Monkey Claim

Other examples

 

(a) Terminology

See Rules 25-29

Proceeding

Originating Process

Action

Application

Claim

Counterclaim

Crossclaim

Third Party Claim

Defence

Reply

Issued

Served

Filed

Deliver


February 14, 2023

(b) Rule 25 Concepts: Material Facts and Particulars

Rule 25

Copland v. Commodore Business Machines Ltd.1985 CanLII 2190 (Ont. S.C.J.)

Mudrick v. Mississauga Oakville Veterinary Emergency Professional Corp.2008 CanLII 58422 (Ont. S.C.J.) 

Whiten v. Pilot Insurance Co.2002 SCC 18

 

(c) Substantive Inadequacy: Motion to Strike the Pleadings

Rule 2125.11

Hunt v. Carey Canada Inc.[1990] 2 SCR 959 

Holland v. Saskatchewan (Minister of Agriculture, Food & Rural Revitalization)2008 SCC 42

(d) Amending the Pleadings

Rule 26

Miguna v. Ontario (Attorney General)2005 CanLII 46385 (Ont. C.A.)

Stekel v. Toyota Canada Inc.2011 ONSC 6507

(e) Service

Rules 16-18.

(f) Computation of Time

Rule  3

Lecture Notes (7) – Pleadings


Feb. 16, 2023

VII.  DISCOVERY

Atrisha Lewis, Meghan Bridges, Sarah Murphy, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Discovery, Rule 29.1 – Discovery Plan

Cynthia Kuehl, Chris Dias, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Discovery, Rule 29.2 – Proportionality in Discovery

Joshua JA Henderson, Akari Sano, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Discovery, Rule 30.01-30.03 – Discovery of Documents

James F Diamond, Anne D Lewis, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Discovery, Rule 30.04-30.11 – Discovery of Documents

Vinidhra Vaitheeswaran, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Discovery, Rule 30.1 – Deemed Undertaking

Neil Wilson, Madison Santos, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Discovery, Rule 31 – Examination for Discovery

Vipal Jain, John Buhlman, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Discovery, Rule 32 – Inspection of Property

Selwyn A Pieters, Thoby King, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Discovery, Rule 33 – Medical Examination of Parties

Brian Sunohara et al, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Examination out of Court, Rule 34 – Procedure on Oral Examinations

Sapna Thakker, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Examination out of Court, Rule 35 – Procedure on Examination for Discovery by Written Questions


Reading Week


Feb. 28, 2023 

(a) Privilege

Rules 29.1-35

Airst v. Airst1998 CanLII 14647 (Ont. Sup. Ct.)

General Accident Assurance v. Chrusz1999 CanLII 7320

Pritchard v. Ontario (Human Rights Commission)2004 SCC 31

Blank v. Canada (Minister of Justice)2006 SCC 39

Kitchenham v. AXA Ins. Canada2008 ONCA 877

White v. 123627 Canada Inc.2014 ONSC 2682

Lecture Notes (8) – Privilege


March 2, 2023

(c) Examination for Discovery

Ontario v. Rothmans Inc.2011 ONSC 2504

Noble v. York University Foundation2010 ONSC 399

Ornstein (Litigation Guardian of) v. Starr2011 ONSC 4220

Lecture Notes (9) – Discovery (I)


March 7, 2023

(d) Documentary Discovery

Warman v. Wilkins-Fournier2011 ONSC 3023

Frangione v. Vandongen2010 ONSC 2823

 

(e) Discovery of Non-Parties

Ontario (Attorney General) v. Ballard Estate (1995), 26 O.R. (3d) 39; 1995 CanLII 3509 (Ont. C.A.)

Hopkins v. Robert Green Equipment Sales Ltd., 2018 ONSC 998

 

(f) Expert Evidence

Rules 4.1, 53.03

Bakalenikov v. Semkiw2010 ONSC 4928 (Ont. S.C.J., Master)

Singer v. LZW LLP2014 ONSC 4521 (Ont. S.C.J.)

Bruff-Murphy v. Gunawardena2017 ONCA 502

 

(g) Medical Examination 

Courts of Justice Act, Section 105(2)

Lovegrove v Rosenthal (1997), 16 C.P.C. (4th) 160; [1997] O.J.No. 5408 (Ont. Gen. Div.)

Lecture Notes (10) – Discovery (II)

 


March 9, 2023

VIII.  SIMPLE MOTIONS 

Jonathan D Kulathungam, Theresa Cesareo, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Motions and Applications, Rule 37 – Motions – Jurisdiction and Procedure

Sample Motion Records

Practice Directions re Toronto Region

(a) Joinder and Consolidation

1014864 Ontario Ltd. v. 1721789 Ontario Inc., 2010 ONSC 3306

Tanner v. McIlveen Estate, 2012 ONSC 2983

Buhlman v. Peoples Ministries Inc., 2009 CanLII 26918 (Ont. S.C.J.)

Soilmec North America Inc. v. D’Elia, 2011 ONSC 5214

 

(b) Determining a Point of Law

Gowling Lafleur Henderson v. Springer2013 ONSC 923

 

(c) Dismissal for Delay

Prescott v. Barbon, 2018 ONCA 504 (Ont. C.A.)

Kamalie v. Khari2021 ONSC 7395 (Ont. S.C.J.)

Heslop v. Flynn, 2022 ONSC 3217

Lecture Notes (11) – Simple Motions


March 14, 2023

(d) Summary Judgment:

Honourable Coulter A. Osborne, Q.C., Summary of Finding and Recommendations of the Civil Justice Reform Project (November, 2007)

Robert A Centa, Tina H Lie, Sonia Patel, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Disposition without Trial, Rule 20 – Summary Judgment

Hryniak v. Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7

Maurice v. Alles2016 ONCA 287

Butera v. Chown, Cairns LLP2017 ONCA 783

Lecture Notes (12) – Summary Judgment


March 16, 2023

IX.  EXTRA-ORDINARY MOTIONS

Background / Reference Reading:

Jeff Berryman, Kiri McDermott-Berryman, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Preservation of Rights in Pending Litigation, Rule 40 – Interlocutory Injunction or Mandatory Order

Courts of Justice Act, ss. 96(1)101

Rule 40

RJR-MacDonald Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General)1994 CanLII 117  (S.C.C.)

 

(a) Anton Piller Order:

Celanese Canada Inc. v. Murray Demolition Corp.2006 SCC 36 (S.C.C.)

Draft Order (Ont. S.C.J. Commercial List, Toronto)

 

(b) Norwich Order:

Isofoton S.A. v. Toronto Dominion Bank2007 CanLII 14626 (Ont. S.C.J.) 

 

c)  Mareva Injunction

Sibley & Associates LP v. Ross2011 ONSC 2951 (Ont. S.C.J.)

Shaw Communications Inc. v. Young2021 ONSC 7918 (Ont. S.C.J.)

Draft Order (Ont. S.C.J. Commercial List, Toronto)

Lecture Notes (13) – Extra-Ordinary Motions 


March 21, 2023

X.  COSTS

Robert J Drake, Robert D Malen, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Costs, Rule 57 – Costs of Proceedings

_

(a) Costs,  Rule 49 and non-Rule 49 Offers

Rules 49 and 57

Courts of Justice Act, Section 131

(b) Offer,  Acceptance,  Approval,  Enforcement

Clark Agri Service Inc. v. 705680 Ontario Ltd., (1996), 2 C.P.C. (4th) 78 (Ont. Gen. Div.)

Centorame v. Centorame2012 ONSC 6405

Wu Estate v. Zurich Insurance Co., (2006), 268 D.L.R. (4th) 670; 2006 CanLII 16344 (Ont. C.A.)

 

(c) Champerty, Maintenance,  and Mary Carter Agreements 

Pettey v. Avis Car Inc. (1993), 13 O.R. (3d) 725;  1993 CanLII 8669

Poirier v. Logan, 2022 ONCA 350

Tallman Truck Centre Limited v. K.S.P. Holdings Inc., 2022 ONCA 66

Waxman v. Waxman, 2022 ONCA 311

Crestwood Preparatory College Inc. v. Smith, 2022 ONCA 743

Lecture Notes (14) – Settlement & Costs


March 23, 2023

XI.  TRIAL AND APPEAL 

Cynthia Kuehl, Christopher Dias, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Trials, Rule 52 – Trial Procedure

Paul-Erik Veel, Jessica Roher, Adil Abdulla, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Trials, Rule 53 – Evidence at Trial

The Advocates Society – Best Practices for Civil Trials – June 2015

Andrew C. Murray, “It’s the First Day of Trial: What do I Do?”

Paul Perrell, “An Evidence Cheat Sheet”

(a) Juries & Jury Notices

Juries Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. J.3

Cowles v. Balac2006 CanLII 34916 (Ont. C.A.)

McLean v. Knox, 2013 ONCA 357 (Ont.C.A.)

 

(b) Mistrial:

Spittal v. Thomas2006 CanLII 12731 (Ont. S.C.J.)

Abdallah v. Snopek2008 CanLII 6983 (Ont. Div. Ct.)

Leader Media Productions Ltd. v. Sentinel Hill Alliance Atlantis2008 ONCA 463

 

(c) Use of Expert & Demonstrative Evidence:

Greer v. Kurtz2008 CanLII 37056 (Ont. S.C.J.)

Moore v. Getahun2015 ONCA 55

(d) Appellate Jurisdiction

Background / Reference Reading:

Brooke MacKenzie, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Appeals, Rule 61 – Appeals to an Appellate Court

Brooke MacKenzie, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Appeals, Rule 62 – Appeals from Interlocutory Orders and Other Appeals to a Judge

Shantona Chaudhury, Cristina Senese, Brodie Noga, Rules of Civil Procedure Chapters, Appeals, Rule 63 – Stay Pending Appeal

Courts of Justice Act, ss.132-134

Capital Gains Income Streams Corp. v. Merrill Lynch Canada Inc., 2007 ONCA 497

Consolidated Practice Direction Regarding Proceedings in the Court of Appeal During the COVID-19 Pandemic 

 

e)    Standard of Review

Housen v. Nikolaisen2002 SCC 33

Lazare v. Harvey2008 ONCA 171

Gligorevic v. McMaster2012 ONCA 115