RSS FeedInterview with the Author of “Life Without Lawyers”
Law schools on both sides of the border are graduating more lawyers than ever before. What effect will the influx of lawyers have on the profession and on the litigation culture in the United States and Canada? Has litigation become America’s national sport? Has frivolous litigation reached crisis levels?
I spoke with Philip K. Howard, best-selling author of the new book, Life Without Lawyers: Liberating America from Too Much Law, to find answers to these questions, and to find out what can be done to bring common sense back into the courtroom.
Howard is himself a lawyer and legal reform activist; he is the founder and chair of Common Good, a “nonprofit, nonpartisan legal reform coalition dedicated to restoring common sense to America.” He also contributes to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Huge Changes to Ontario Civil Procedure
The McGuinty government has today announced that it will be making significant changes to the civil justice system in Ontario.
The changes arise in response to Justice Osborne’s recommendations for civil procedure reforms. The government initially commissioned the report to find ways to improve access to justice and speed up the processing of civil matters.
An extensive list of the recommendations of the Civil Justice Reform Project can be found here. The abridged highlights are also published in the 2008-2009 Ontario Annual Practice – a book which just about every civil procedure student and civil lawyer owns – at page vi.
Just over a year later, the government has agreed to implement 25 major reforms to the rules of Ontario’s civil courts, including the following major recommendations:
- An increase in the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court from $10,000 to $25,000.
- An increase in the Rule 76 Simplified Procedure limit from $50,000 to $100,000.
- Parties will be allowed up to two hours of oral discovery for Rule 76 actions.
- Each party will be limited to a total of seven hours of pre-trial Examination for Discovery (unless the parties consent or the court orders otherwise.)
- New rules of summary judgment that make it less likely for costs to be awarded against the party that loses the motion. These costs awards acted as a disincentive to bring a summary judgment motion.
- A judge can now order a “mini-trial” to hear oral evidence on a summary judgment motion.
- The civil court rules will now contain a general principle of proportionality to guide their interpretation. The time and expense devoted to any proceeding must now reflect what is at stake. Cases that are straight forward and of lower value should not take as long or cost as much as large, complex cases.
Mr. Justice Osborne had the following to say about today’s announcement:
“By acting on my recommendations, the Attorney General is reducing cost and delay for individuals and businesses who use our civil courts. The reforms reflect the need for proportionality in our civil justice, which means that straightforward, lower value cases should not take as long or cost as much as large, complex cases.”
We have previously covered some of the Attorney General’s criminal law reforms on this website.
Kudos to the Hon. Mr. Chris Bentley for implementing these sweeping reforms that promise the speedier and cheaper resolution of cases.
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