Beginning this fall, personal injury lawyers can expect to be operating under a new jury trial sitting pilot program.

The changes to the current system are expected to be significant. According to Margaret Waddell, head of the advocacy committee of the Toronto Lawyer’s Association, “There is a tremendous backlog of trials in the Toronto region. Trials are booking into late 2019 and early 2020.”

This project is intended to facilitate a reduction in the backlog by freeing up the time of more judges for trials. Though it is not expected that the pilot project will result in more settlements, grouping them all together in a month period instead of in a sequential order, fewer judicial resources can be utilized to handle more number of cases. 

What Is The Present System?

Nearly 60% of all trials in Ontario deal with personal injury claims. The Sittings Trial is intended to reduce the inefficiencies that are the primary cause of delays in getting the case to trial. The current system of fixed trial dates means that there were good chances that your case could get pushed to a later date if something occurred preventing your hearing on that day. This causes enormous frustration and anxiety in lawyers and clients alike.

In order to prevent overbooking of courts when trials are scheduled on a week-to-week basis, trial dates for new cases are often given two or three years into the future. Most personal injury cases are settled out of court, but many, especially medical malpractice cases go to trial. The current system means that litigants have to wait for years in case they wish to have their day in court.

Witness availability is another issue in long-drawn-out trials. In many cases, the witnesses are busy professionals like doctors, accountants, etc who cannot guarantee that they will be available on that particular date many years down the line.

The New System

Prominent lawyers opine that for years, Toronto lawyers have had to explain to distressed clients that their trial date will be set for one or two years down the line. Although discovery has been completed and the lawyers themselves are ready with all processes necessary for trial, the old system entails long delays due to overbooking of courts.

Since the new approach does not involve a fixed schedule, cases could be called at any time during the four-week-long schedule. This allows more cases to be handled during this time.

Additionally, such a system ensures that enough judges have been empaneled to try cases during this time, leading to better efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Possible Problems

Though the program seems feasible and advantageous, there could be certain issues. Scheduling conflicts with other regions may be one of them. Lawyers may find themselves in a quandary if they have booked cases simultaneously. The pilot also doesn’t address one of the root causes of overbooking, which is the shortfall of judges.

If you or a dear one requires assistance, advice and advocacy in a personal injury case, contact one of our experienced personal injury lawyers without delay.