One-stop shopping for all legal terms which relate to the world of civil litigation.
Keenan Kester Cofield is an American icon. Among his many legal actions, his greatest was suing MacDonald for $1-billion for denying him extra sauce pack for his Chicken McNuggets™, claiming racial bias. The world is full of Cofieldisms. Read on!
All bad things have a start in time.
Affidavits, aka sworn statement or written depositions, are the more frequent type of evidence used by our courts. But preparing affidavits is an art, not a science. Proceed with caution (and read this article).
There is no place in the world where UNCITRAL rolls off the tongue as sweetly as in this delightful (and self-described) glossary of all things ADR.
A good looking military acronym? Nope.Alternative dispute resolution; an outside-of-the-Court method of resolving a disagreement or a dispute between two or more persons.Prematurely announced as the saviour of a slow and out-of-touch Court system, ADR has instead entered the backdoor and is now firmly entrenched as a mainstay of modern judicial systems.
If you thought sitting ten feet below one judge dressed in funeral black was scary, wait until you try it with three judges! But Courts of Appeal are well-intentioned and usually deliver the best justice in the province. The problem is ... well, read the article!
To contempt or not to contempt: there ought not to be such a question.
Contempt of court is a deadly serious matter. Why anybody would risk a fine, jail time or, err, their right hand messing with a judge surrounded by armed sheriffs is beyond us. But if there are people crazy enough to play with fire, we'll be there pen a 'ready!
Awkward, imperfect uniform laws try to impose some order in the ancient, unpredictable and complex common law rules for resolving conflict of laws issues, so very real in today's reality of ubiquitous international trade and movement of people.
The availability of cross-examining an affiant on his/her affidavit can be an invaluable tool in challenging or bringing some credibility to the inherent evidentiary weakness of an affidavit.
Delay by a judge in issuing reasons for judgment can kill the fledging soul of justice as it seeks to assert itself in a case brought before a court of law, despite the best of submissions.
Document discovery in Chambers proceedings, or otherwise when the evidence is presented by affidavit, is a challenge; a dog's breakfast of court rules and inherent jurisdiction.
An examination for discovery (aka a deposition), is often a litigant's only pre-trial kick at the can to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the other litigant’s case. Use it or lose it. This article examines the in’s and out’s, how to survive them and put your best foot forward.
The all-in-one primer on the Federal Court of Canada.
Why shoot yourself in the foot before you're even out of the gate?
When judges die or become seriously ill before the end of a hearing, it can negate the trial unless ....
More litigants feel the brunt of administrative law than any kind of law. That’s because admin law, as the lawyers call it, includes all the little tribunals that run amuck like little courts, with pretty much no appeal rights ... except judicial review, which, until recently, was an oxymoron. Now it’s ... well, still an oxymoron!
Sometimes clear, sometimes grey, often hotly resisted: this articles reviews the law and repeats the rule: lawyers must avoid conflicts of interest.
Legal aid: when the government subsidizes legal services for individual litigants in restricted areas such as where liberty is at risk (criminal law), family law and human rights.
Talking to the media when your case is before the court may prove penny wise but pound foolish ... or fatal.
Mediation can work but unless it’s free ... or especially if it’s free! - participants must be alive to the pitfalls and opportunities presented.
A UN Treaty which standardizes domestic arbitration rules and administrations of various states so as to promote international trade.
Small claims is an simplified procedure for courts to hear and decide cases in which the property or rights at issue are relatively low. It's a world onto its own so best be aware!
Summary trial is now all the fashion in Canadian courthouses, allowing litigants to submit their dispute to judgment by way of written sworn evidence such as affidavits. Not all cases lend themselves to summary trial and even when the subject matter appears appropriate, other factors may argue against a trial other than by witnesses and documents being assessed under oath and in open court.
BC's highest Court can move like molasses but much depends on the cook. Find out "the recipes" herein.
How to give evidence, testify in court: your need-to-know primer.
You just can't find an honest well-intentioned judgment debtor nowadays. It seems that whatever bug bit them to not honour whatever legal obligation on which you obtained an order against them, keeps on ticking because - go figure! - now they won't pay the judgment! What do you do? This area of the law is particularly complex so the first thing to do is ... read this article!
A plain language primer on drafting a defamation claim.
Costs serve two purposes. One is to award the victor at trial. But let's be honest: the other purpose is that of the lawyer: to bandy the threat of it to intimidate the other side at every step of trial preparation.
Though calling it indecent, the courts will not declare zero-tolerance against the rare but audacious lawyer who proposes to be a witness in his or her own case.
The self-represented, aka, lay litigant's survival guide to trial. Don't leave home without it.
Transferring a family law file from one registry, or jurisdiction, to another, opens up a can of worms. But if you gotta do what you gotta do, the law is there to support you.