Ontario Court filing rejections have jumped the shark

[Rusty Iron Ring]

The various courthouses have always been inconsistent about what they do and do not accept.  And Hamilton has always been its own fiefdom, with no apparent relation to the rules or laws elsewhere in the province. That's all part of the fun.

But lately I've been seeing some really nonsensical explanations for why a document is rejected. I was starting to doubt whether it was just us, and now I see that there is a lively discussion amongst the law twitterers about it. 

Recently we had a court refusing to issue a notice of application because we didn't have a hearing date, while also refusing to provide us with a hearing date because we hadn't issued a notice of application. This went on for literally weeks.

Today somebody on the twitters posted a copy of a rejection because his Costs Outline's backpage didn't specify whether it was the Plaintiff's Costs Outline or the Defendant's Costs Outline.  Just the backpage, mind you.  The front was pretty clear about whose costs outline it was. 

I get that resources are scarce.  I've accepted that it takes longer to schedule a simple motion than to have a child. But this is new.

What is going on? 

[epeeist]

In large part because I'm part-time and so have the time (very few active files), I have tended to do filings in person (unless online filing of course, or it's far away). Because if there's anything different that the registry wants that is not substantive, as the lawyer I can make the changes as opposed to a process server filing it that reports only later after they've left the registry that they couldn't file the document...

I realize you're discussing Ontario, but I'm reminded of a years-ago situation I became aware of with the Federal court (this is from memory, not advice on service etc.!). Provincial or Federal, the registry does what they want (or doesn't do what they don't want). For personal service on the Crown, the Federal Court Rules s. 133 says this is done by filing the original and two copies at the Registry, the Registry then shall "forthwith" transmit a certified copy to Ottawa and the local DOJ.

Of course, they don't (or at least years ago in Toronto they didn't) even when specifically asked politely and referred to the Rules, the intake person said they would but a few days later checking a higher-up said something like "No, we don't do that." Which meant that following the rules = the Crown never got actual notice. The lawyer I knew called up the local DOJ office and spoke with a lawyer there who was totally understanding and the resolution from then on was follow the rules and also send a copy to the local DOJ office and record both on the proof of service. Not terribly difficult once one knew, but frustrating as hell to be caught by surprise the first time especially when a deadline involved ("What do you mean you didn't send a copy even though specifically alerted to the provision when filed?").

[Judgelight]

On 6/8/2022 at 7:21 AM, Rusty Iron Ring said:

What is going on? 

I can't speak to civil litigation specifically, but it probably has to do with high turn over, new staff, zero to little training and shit pay. 

The court staff employees I deal with are "on call" with no guaranteed hours and get paid a paltry salary for their work and their geographic location. While they all work exceptionally hard, I've noticed (and my office has noticed) errors that would not have happened in the past as frequently (paperwork getting lost, wrongly endorsed, etc). 

With that said, I've never blame them. Work quality is a function of how employees are trained and treated. And court staff are treated like shit by many JPs and Judges and even worse by their managers and the government (from what I've been told)  

[Aureliuse]

Yeah, I definitely experience this in my practice.

It led to increased costs for my clients due to having to refile everything (even re-serve something because an Affidavit of Service was not accepted).

It led to a lot of delays and frustrations in the proceeding (angry clients).

I had a flustered judge criticize my office because of missing documents that should've went ahead as a package. We filed as a package but some court clerk only sent up 3 of 5 documents to chambers.

[Rusty Iron Ring]

27 minutes ago, Aureliuse said:

Yeah, I definitely experience this in my practice.

It led to increased costs for my clients due to having to refile everything (even re-serve something because an Affidavit of Service was not accepted).

It led to a lot of delays and frustrations in the proceeding (angry clients).

I had a flustered judge criticize my office because of missing documents that should've went ahead as a package. We filed as a package but some court clerk only sent up 3 of 5 documents to chambers.

It just keeps getting worse. Recently got bounced back and forth between online portal (you can't file this to be heard in writing because the Notice says oral hearing) and the motion coordinator (you can't file this for an oral hearing because it's unopposed and unopposed motions need to be in writing) until the coordinator finally took pity on us and just filed it. 

Your last line brings back good memories though.  As a very junior associate, I got a super sarcastic lecture from one of the Masters about how a law office should be able to afford a stapler and suggestions on where we could buy a good one.  I had no idea what was going on until the Master eventually showed me that my motion record was all loose leaf, held together with a paper clip.  Leaving aside that it wouldn't have been accepted for filing that way, I had filed it myself and it was definitely bound.  No idea why somebody at the courthouse decided to take it apart for me. 

 

 

 

[PulpFiction]

This is so annoying. Some of the reasons for rejecting filing are so insignificant and delay everything. If I have even a slight feeling court staff will get confused about what's going on, or why things are organized/done a certain way, I also file a memo to court staff regarding the filing. It's reduced my rejections significantly. I mean, I could just do things right the first time, but that's never gonna happen, so... 

Edited June 28, 2022 by PulpFiction