In an effort to keep real estate lawyers updated with the ever-changing situation, we have further information to be shared with the real estate lawyers in your association.

LRO Closures

The Director of Titles has announced the closure of all 54 Land Registry Offices to the public effective October 13, 2020. This means that Friday, October 9, 2020 will be last day the Land Registry Office counter service will be available. Further details can be found in his letter to FOLA here.

If and when we receive further information of interest to the real estate bar, we will pass it along. 

Stay up to date with FOLA’s real estate information at https://fola.ca/real-estate-law.

Merredith MacLennan and Eldon Horner

FOLA Real Estate Co-Chairs

Please note: The information provided herein is of a general nature only and is not intended to provide legal advice.

Please note the Civil and Family Trial Sittings in 2021 have been set for the following dates:

Long Trial Team Sittings (reserved for all trials that require 15 days or more):

• March 22, 2021
• October 4, 2021

Hamilton Sopinka – 3 weeks each (civil)

• February 8, 2021
• May 10, 2021
• September 13, 2021
• November 15 , 2021

Kitchener – 3 weeks each

• January 25, 2021
• April 6, 2021
• September 7, 2021
• November 8, 2021

St. Catharines – 3 weeks each

• January 18 , 2021
• May 17, 2021
• October 12, 2021

Welland

• March 29, 2021 – 3 weeks
• June 14, 2021 – 2 weeks
• November 22, 2021 – 3 weeks

Please find below a list of links providing you with information on the use of the Zoom video platform. The links give information ranging from basic use, to more advanced features and keyboard shortcuts, depending on your needs.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-video-tutorials

https://www.zdnet.com/article/zoom-101-a-starter-guide-for-beginners-plus-advanced-tips-and-tricks-for-pros/

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205683899-Hot-Keys-and-Keyboard-Shortcuts-for-Zoom

https://www.howtogeek.com/669467/zoom-keyboard-shortcut-and-how-to-use-them/

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-use-zoom-like-a-pro-13-video-chat-hacks-to-try-at-your-next-meeting/

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/tips-for-using-zoom/

https://www.wired.com/story/tips-for-using-zoom/

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC – COUNTER SERVICES

The health and wellbeing of court occupants and all Ontarians who access the courthouse is a priority.

Do not come into the Courthouse in person if you have been advised by Public Health or your doctor or the Ontario Ministry of Health (MOH) website to self-isolate due to possible exposure to the coronavirus (COVID-19). 

All users of this courthouse are advised to consult the MOH website for the latest information on COVID-19 at: Ontario.ca/coronavirus

If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or to determine whether you should isolate yourself or seek medical assistance, call Telehealth at 1-866-797-0000 or your local public health unit for assistance and direction, before attending the courthouse. 

COUNTER SERVICES

Effective March 18, 2020, and until further notice, counter services will be offered between 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  

ONLINE FILING

Please note that online filing is available for Small Claims Court, Civil, and Family Court matters. For more information, please visit:

https://www.ontario.ca/page/file-small-claims-online (Small Claims Court) 

https://www.ontario.ca/page/file-civil-claim-online (civil)

https://www.ontario.ca/page/file-divorce-application-online (family)

FAMILY MEDIATION AND INFORMATION SERVICES

All onsite family mediation and information services are being suspended until further notice.  Parties are encouraged to contact service providers to discuss services being offered remotely, including online or by phone. 

You may also be able to find information at:

Community Legal Education Ontario: cleo.on.ca

Steps to Justice: stepstojustice.ca

Legal Aid Ontario: legalaid.on.ca

Due to the Covid-19 situation, the Law Library will be unstaffed until further notice.  Staff will be working offsite, and may be reached via email at library@thelcla.ca.  Library staff will have access to Quicklaw, Practice Advisor, Wrongful Dismissal Database and Lawyers’ Daily, and will be able to assist with research. We will post any updates on the LCLA website.

As you are well aware, on July 7, 2019, Legal Aid Ontario implemented service changes across the province in order to align their operations to their provincial funding allocation for 2019.  Earlier this afternoon, FOLA was advised that following a period of monitoring LAO services, they have adapted services as required and, as a result, they determined that there is now capacity to provide some additional family duty counsel services.

As such, effective November 18, 2019, duty counsel will provide these additional services:

• Procedural advice to anyone appearing without their own lawyer in first appearance court or case conference.
• Assistance with child protection matters for financially eligible clients in jurisdictions where clients are unable to retain lawyer in a timely manner.
• Assistance with consents, as long as negotiations have been completed and the issues are eligible for duty counsel services.
• Assistance with second case conferences, for those who financially qualify for legal aid and the issues are eligible for duty counsel services.

The attached documents outline additional services which will now be available. The provision of these additional services will be subject to local practise and duty counsel capacity. Some services may not be available at every location.

Substantive legal advice and assistance remains limited to those who financially qualify for legal aid.  Please do forward this to all members who work with Legal Aid.

CLIENT-Service-Guide_DC-family-services-resumed-18Nov2019_EN

STAFF-Service-Guide-DC-family-services-resumed-18Nov2019_EN

Good afternoon – earlier today, MAG sent us the following notice to all in the legal profession:

On January 1, 2020, important civil justice reforms will come into effect. The reforms were introduced through:

1. A regulation filed on October 23, 2019 to increase the Small Claims Court monetary jurisdiction (O. Reg 343-19 amending O. Reg. 626/00 pursuant to the Courts of Justice Act, s.53(1)).
2. A regulation filed on October 23, 2019 to amend civil court rules relating to Simplified Procedure (O. Reg 344-19 amending the Rules of Civil Procedure pursuant to the Courts of Justice Act).
3. Bill 100, the Protecting what Matters Most Act (Budget Measures) 2019, which passed on May 29, 2019 (amends s.108 of the Courts of Justice Act by eliminating civil jury trials in Simplified Procedure actions)

Please also note that a regulation filed on October 23, 2019 amends the Rules of the Small Claims Court court forms relating to garnishment proceedings (O. Reg 345-19). The court forms are available on the CSD court forms website.

This information can also be found on FOLA’s website.

Katie W. Robinette

Executive Director

FOLA.ca

We had a meeting on Friday September 27^th with a majority of stakeholders to see how the revised changes to Bail was going.  The project appears to be working by reducing the number of prisoners being brought to the court house but what we did identify, was a work flow issue.. The end result will be that we will be switching SB2 and SB3.

Effective Monday October 21^st, All Bail matters will be moved into SB2 Starting at 930 am, where the video suite is located and will deal with overnight arrests, video from the various Detention centres and regular bail matters, if I can describe them as that.

Case Management Court will be moved into SB3 with a 900 am start and once Case Management Court has been completed it will become a Bail Assist Court with IPBC taking priority on Mondays and Thursdays at 130 pm.

It is believed that this will assist Court Support Staff with Docket and Information preparation and ensure that proper breaks are given throughout the day.

Signage and the information counter on the first floor will be prepared to advise the public of these changes.

I will be preparing revised Protocols for both SB2 and SB3 and hopefully have them distributed by weeks end.

Also please feel free to share this message with anyone else who would have an interest in this matter.

Thank you,

Bruce

H.W. Bruce W PHILLIPS,

Local Administrative Justice of the Peace Niagara

SB2 Case Management Video Bail Best Practices Protocol 20191021

SB3 Case Management IPBC 20101021

FOLA received notice yesterday from Legal Aid Ontario about changes that are coming in the duty counsel program, effective July 7^th.

The lists of what duty counsel will do/won’t do are attached.

The central changes are as follows, though the detail is really in the service guides:

• Criminal duty counsel: duty counsel will continue to serve in-custody accused without financially testing as always, but will serve only financially and legally eligible clients for out-of-custody accused.  Duty counsel won’t be providing dedicated courtroom services (ie staffing courtrooms all day) except for bail court.  However, duty counsel will continue to go into court (not trial courts, of course) to serve legally and financially eligible clients.

• Family duty counsel: duty counsel will assist clients with some aspects of Motions to Change, and will provide in-court service to financially and legally eligible clients in the Ontario Court of Justice and the Unified Family Court.

• Agency work: duty counsel will provide routine agency work for lawyers on certificate matters.

As a practising lawyer, with over 25 years experience, and with my practice restricted, by choice, to criminal law for well over half my career, please, accept this personal note of encouragement.  I can say that in reviewing the DC restrictions rather than enhancement of DC services we, the practising Certificate counsel Bar, should see a wee glimmer of positivity as this is good for us and not as harmful as anticipated.   In the meanwhile, I as FOLA LAO chair, and Katie Robinette, FOLA’s Executive Director, plan to continue to actively participate with the Alliance for the Sustainability of Legal Aid (ASLA).   The next meeting is Tuesday next.  We and other stakeholders are seeking a course of action to address your concerns.

Terry Brandon

FOLA Legal Aid Chair

Service Guide 2019 – CRIMINAL

 Service Guide 2019 – FAMILY

Do you file civil case documents? Tell us how Civil Claims Online can work better for you.

Since November 2017, Ontarians have been able to file select civil case documents online, 24/7 using the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Civil Claims Online service.

We want to hear from you

As current and potential users, your input is crucial for making this service a success. We created a survey to get a better understanding of how you currently use the service, what you like about it and where we can improve.

Please respond to the survey by March 22, 2019. We truly appreciate your feedback!

Did you know?

With this service, you can file online 24/7. Filing online reduces trips to the courthouse, eliminates the need to pay for postage or courier services and reduces processing delays. Visit Ontario.ca/page/file-civil-claim-online to learn more.