Index

May 16 , 2024

How to Meet Court Deadlines

April 15, 2024

Recycling Old Evidence or Records

April 10, 2024

Poor Record Disclosure Bites

April 3, 2024

History of the Drop-Dead Rule

March 26 , 2024

The Aims and Results of Costs

March 18 , 2024

More Troubles Filing and Serving Court Documents

March 14 , 2024

Precedents About Facts

March 11 , 2024

Question of Law or Fact?

February 29 , 2024

Disclosure in Chambers

February 21 , 2024

Not Attending a Hearing

January 31 , 2024

The Suggestions Box

January 2 , 2024

Plain Language for Lawyers

December 15 , 2023

Limitation Periods Have Shrunk

November 30 , 2023

Advocacy's Key

November 28 , 2023

Motions Fritter Away Time and Money

November 27 , 2023

Will Foreclosure History Repeat Itself?

November 21 , 2023

Rules of Court Bind Even the King's Bench

November 2, 2023

Records and Affidavit of Records

November 2 , 2023

Uncommon Law

October 20 , 2023

Expanding Judicial Review Evidence

June 22, 2023

Competition v. Benefits

June 19, 2023

Clogged Courts

June 12, 2023

Preparing Applications in Uncertain Conditions

May 8, 2023

Competence is a Delicate Flower

March 30 , 2023

Urgent! Very Hard to Meet a Limitation Period

March 13 , 2023

Parties to Planning Appeals

March 7 , 2023

Costs in Family Law Litigation

January 30 , 2023

Dodging Settlement Privilege

January 4 , 2023

Lurking Dangers and Errors

January 3 , 2023

Your Real Goals

December 5 , 2022

Contracts for Higher Costs

November 24 , 2022

Scope of Offers to Settle

October 13 , 2022

Checklist for Cross-Examination

September 16 , 2022

Reviewing Latest Changes

August 22 , 2022

First Steps in Problem Solving

July 28 , 2022

Checklist of Powerful Procedural Principles

March 22 , 2022

Repeating a Cross-Examination Question

January 25 , 2022

Enforcing Land Sales Becomes Easier

January 5 , 2022

Proving a Settlement After a Mediation

November 16, 2021

Types of Injunctions

October 1, 2021

Orders After Litigation is Over

August 11, 2021

Discoverability for Limitation Periods

August 5 , 2021

Releases of Claims

June 7 , 2021

Language Used Still Matters

May 17 , 2021

Serving Uncooperative People

April 15 , 2021

Death and After-Life of Contingency Agreements

February 22 , 2021

Legal Analysis

February 2 , 2021

Costs Clarified at Last

January 4 , 2021

Urgent!

December 10, 2020

Traps and Confusion in Service Times

November 24, 2020

Don't Cut Corners

October 2 , 2020

Consent Orders

August 4 , 2020

Electronic Hearings

July 21, 2020

Ceasing to Act

June 29, 2020

Writing Skills

June 29, 2020

Keeping Up With the Law

June 22, 2020

Assets as a Test for Security for Costs

June 19, 2020

What is This Case About?

June 11, 2020

Cross-Examining Child Witnesses

May 20 , 2020

Formal Offers

May 13 , 2020

Vexatious or Self-Represented Litigants

January 7, 2020

G.S.T. and Costs

December 20 , 2019

Electronically Navigating the
Handbook

October 7 , 2019

Questioning is a Bad Word

July 29 , 2019

Dismissal for Delay

May 7 , 2019

Rule 4.31 Fallacies

March 18 , 2019

More Dangers in Oral Fee Agreements

February 11 , 2019

Weir-Jones Decisions

January 9 , 2019

Discouraging Settlements

November 30, 2018

European Court Helps You Twice?

November 23 , 2018

Courts Overruling Tribunals

November 16 , 2018

New Evidence on Appeal

October 30 , 2018

Schedule C's Role

July 17 , 2018

Loopholes in Enforcing Settlements

May 7 , 2018

Enforcement of Procedure Rules


April 16, 2018

Limping Lawsuits are Often
Doomed


April 3 , 2018

Court of Appeal Tips for
Summary Decisions


March 19, 2018

Serious Dangers in Chambers
Applications


February 13 , 2018

Court Backlog


December 18 , 2017

Lowering the Status of Courts


September 15 , 2017

Access to Court Decisions


July 4 , 2017

Strictissimi Juris


June 14 , 2017

Why Don't Your Clients Settle?


June 5 , 2017

Gap in Rules About Parties


June 5, 2017

Personal Costs Against
Solicitors


April 26, 2017

Clogged Courts


April 11, 2017

Dismissal for Want of
Prosecution


January 6, 2017

Incomplete Disclosure


December 15, 2016

Mediation


November 23, 2016

Is Contract Interpretation Law?

Welcome

Côté’s Commentaries

© J.E. Côté 2016-2024

HOW TO MEET COURT DEADLINES

Scheduling, filing, and serving applications and statements of claim with courts is now complex. That interacts with time limits for doing so. The danger of missing an obvious time limit is very real.

Often the deadline is tight simply because of the time it takes to gather the information, draft papers, and get affidavits sworn. When the client first gives instructions to sue or make the application, often the time is not yet short.

So here are five suggestions you could try, to reduce the danger of filing or serving too late.

  1. Leave nothing until the last day; you or your computer might fall ill that day.

  2. Your documents will probably be prepared on a computer. So start the drafting process at once, especially all the formal parts like styles of cause. As each piece of information is obtained, fill it in on the existing draft. Make sure that everyone who will be needed to do something, such as swearing or signing, will be available on very short notice on the critical days.

  3. At a very early stage, you or some other very reliable person should consult the court concerned, to determine the exact address and procedure needed to schedule and file, especially if doing so gets close to the deadline. If the court is the Court of Appeal, contact the case management officer in the relevant city (Edmonton or Calgary). And figure out well in advance precisely to whom or where to serve the filed documents. It may be better to serve more than one way, e.g. serve a person in charge, and also leave at the proper office or address.

  4. If a copy of the document endorsed to show filing is not available in time for service deadlines, serve a copy without the endorsement, and then serve again a copy with the endorsement once that endorsed copy becomes available from the Registrar or Clerk. If there is more than one way to file or serve, use each method, to play it safe. And to persuade a judge later, that you took all the steps humanly possible.

  5. Have two people attend on making the key steps such as booking (scheduling), filing, and serving. Each should check to find mistakes or misspellings, especially in computer addresses. And later that will give you a choice of who can swear a procedural affidavit, in case there arises a later dispute about whether deadlines were met or not, and how. The lawyer knowing all the privileged secrets is not an ideal witness to give affidavit evidence.

– Hon. J.E. Côté

 

The Commentaries are intended to call the attention of lawyers to promising or threatening developments in the law, in civil procedure, in developing their skills, or simply to describe something curious, funny or intriguing.

The Hon. Jean Côté retired from the Court of Appeal of Alberta and would be willing to act as an arbitrator, mediator, or referee under Rules 6.44 and 6.45 of the Alberta Rules of Court.

He may be contacted through Juriliber at:

email: info@juriliber.com or phone 780-424-5345.