The OBA's Civil Litigation Section was recently advised that, based on the success of the November Sittings the Toronto Region has decided to make the sittings project permanent. For further information, please find a memo detailing dates and other particulars we received from the Court.
TORONTO SITTINGS PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT
* The Superior Court of Justice, Toronto Region has decided to continue the Toronto Jury sittings project on a permanent basis for all Motor vehicle/ personal injury jury actions (excluding medical malpractice) that are 2-3 weeks (6-15 days) in length.
* There are two sittings in the current sittings project: The Fall 2017 Sittings (November 27, 2017 to December 22, 2017) which have been completed, and the upcoming 2018 Spring Sittings (June 4, 2018-June 29, 2018). All cases which fall under this category of cases with prior fixed dates between January to June 2018 were automatically moved in to the upcoming 2018 Spring sittings.
* The new Fall 2018 Sittings will be held Tuesday, October 9, 2018 to Friday November 2, 2018. The new Spring 2019 Sittings will be held Monday, June 3, 2019 to Friday, June 28, 2019. These new Fall and Spring sittings will continue on a yearly basis at the same time period.
* For both Short and Long trials - cases with previously scheduled trial dates between September 2018 to December 2018 that fall under this category of cases will automatically be moved into the October Fall 2018 jury settings (October 9 -November 2). Counsel will receive Notice from the Court advising that their case has been moved into the Fall 2018 sittings List. Cases longer than 10 days (11-15 days) with previously assigned trial dates between January to June 2019 will be moved into the June 2019 (June 3-June 28) Spring Sittings. Cases longer than 10 days with previously assigned trial dates between September 2019 and December 2019 will automatically be moved into the October 2019 jury sittings.
*At this time short trials (6-10 days in length) ready to be assigned trial dates will be placed into the June 2019 Spring jury sittings. Council will need to attend short trial “To Be Spoken To Court” in order to schedule trials that fall within these Sittings. For trials that are longer than 10 days (11-15 days) ready to be assigned trial dates will be placed into the June 2020 Spring Sittings.
*Counsel will need to attend Long trial scheduling Court in order to schedule trials that fall within these Sittings. On receipt of counsel’s completed certification forms, counsel be contacted by the Civil Trial office in order to schedule the appropriate Short or Long Trial Court appearance.