One thing that surprised me when I started working in personal injury is how long it can take to get a trial date in Ottawa. Cases in Trial Management court this past month were given trial dates in 2024. The main reason for the delay is because the defence almost always files a jury notice and there is a need for lengthy trial dates.
As a personal injury lawyer, I looked forward to the changes to Rule 76 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 76 is also known as the Simplified Procedure Rule. There were several changes that positively impact my clients.
The first change is the monetary increase. The limit increased from $100,000 to $200,000. This means that if the claim is valued between $35,000 to $200,000, it can be brought under the Simplified Procedure Rules. The result being that more of my files will move forward expeditiously. Many personal injury claims can be brought under Rule 76 with this monetary increase because of the cap on general damages.
Another change is that costs and disbursements have a cap. Costs will be capped at $50,000 and disbursements will be capped at $25,000. This change has both a positive and negative impact depending on what party succeeds at trial.
The third important change is the increase in the time allotted for the Examination for Discovery. The time increased from two hours to three hours. This is beneficial as it was difficult for counsel to obtain all the information that they require to properly assess the claim in two hours.
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