Meaningful Disclosure

Candice Chan-Glasgow, Director, Review Services and Counsel

August 7, 2020

In a decision released last month, R. v. Cuffie, 2020 ONSC 4488 (CanLII), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice considered whether the Crown’s disclosure of non-searchable PDFs constitutes “meaningful” disclosure.

The Crown provided disclosure in nine tranches, and each tranche of disclosure was accompanied by a spreadsheet which functioned as a table of contents. The spreadsheet listed the file name of every item disclosed, the folder in which the file was located, and the date the item was disclosed. Approximately 7,000 “written documents” (over 318,600 pages) were disclosed, in addition to over 9,000 audio files, videos, and photographs. … Read More

Heuristica Proposes Better Disclosure Rules for Construction Arbitration

Despite some initial trepidation, lawyers arbitrating construction cases by teleconference have found the “new normal” to be efficient and cost effective. But the inconveniences associated with face-to-face arbitrations are minuscule compared to the costs and risks associated with the document disclosure process. We need a “new normal” way to request and produce relevant documents in a virtual process.

It’s time to consider a standard, simplified disclosure rule that takes advantage of available technology to improve the outcomes of construction arbitration.

In our experience, many of the pain points associated with the exchange of documents could have been avoided had the parties adopted a mutually agreeable framework at the outset of a matter, and prior to the review and exchange of productions.… Read More

Virtual Hearings – Here to Stay?

Candice Chan-Glasgow, Director, Review Services and Counsel

July 24, 2020

On July 6, 2020, courtrooms in certain locations across Ontario resumed in-person proceedings, and each week, additional courtrooms across the province are continuing to re-open.

However, Chief Justice Morawetz’s July 21, 2020 Notice to the Profession recognizes that not all participants may be comfortable attending a courthouse during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that virtual hearings should be explored when requested.

Counsel and parties facing a request for a virtual hearing should consider Justice Myers’ recent order that an examination for discovery proceed by video conference. Justice Myers wrote in Arconti v.… Read More

O’Donnell appointed Chair of CanLII and Lexum

We are proud to share that Crystal O’Donnell, the firm’s Founder and CEO, has been appointed the new Chair of the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) and Lexum.

CanLII provides free access to Canadian court cases, legislation, and commentary. It was founded, and is paid for, by the lawyers and notaries who are members of Canada’s provincial and territorial law societies, which comprise the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.

Lexum is a software company that designs and operates online legal information delivery products and specializes in the management and the publishing of legal information over the internet. … Read More

Vicars featured in Women Leading in Law Series

Lynne Vicars, Heuristica’s Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer and Senior Counsel, was recently featured in the Women Leading in Law series by Erin Cowling, of Cowling Legal Freelance.

In the article Lynne recounts a truly fascinating journey from her typing class in high school, to university, to how she ended up attending law school, to after graduating working at smaller firms in Alberta, then as inhouse counsel at a national bank, to her term as the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) President and finally to Heuristica where she is the firm’s Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer.

You can read the full article here.… Read More