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An Overview of The Lawsuit Process In Ontario

Not every lawsuit process has the same number of phases. The personal injury lawsuits in Ontario have at least 2 phases that cannot be found in spots outside of Canada.

The first 2 phases copy the same 2 stages found elsewhere. The victim of a loss or injury files a lawsuit against the opposing party. The initiator of the lawsuit collects the relevant evidence and speaks with witnesses. The appropriate medical records and police records should be obtained, as well, at this time.

The 3rd phase is one of the 2 additional stages/phases.

It is referred to as the formal pleading. At this point, the stage gets set for an exchange between the 2 disputing parties. The plaintiff or their Personal Injury Lawyer in Waterloo offers a statement of claim. The statement of defense gets presented in response to that same claim. The pleading phase precedes a stage/phase that copies the pattern of a more familiar lawsuit.

The discovery phase follows the pleading.

During the discovery, the 2 sides exchange evidence. Oral examinations could also take place at this time. Lawyers could exam either the plaintiff, the defendant, a witness to the accident or an expert witness.

After the discovery, the time has come for Ontario’s mandatory phase.

This is the second of the 2 phases that cause Ontario’s lawsuits to differ from the ones that take place outside of Canada. It features a procedure known as mediation. A neutral 3rd party schedules the time for that particular procedure.

The same third party serves as the mediator, when the mediation takes place. The mediator helps the 2 sides to narrow the issues. Mediators never offer advice or state an opinion. Each of them focuses on working with the 2 disputing sides, in hopes of reaching a settlement.

The trial is the last scheduled phase.

If the mediator achieves a settlement, no trial takes place. At a trial, the jury hears the arguments from both lawyers, and views the available evidence. After the same lawyers have made their closing statements, the jury deliberates, with the hope of reaching a verdict.

The lawsuit process invites the occurrence of an interruption.

No effort gets made to schedule a settlement, because the legal system permits the settling of a dispute at any point during the legal proceedings that follow the filing of a personal injury claim. In other words, a pleading does not have to take place; a discovery is not necessary.

Even the mediation does not get viewed as mandatory, unless no agreement was reached following the pleading and the discovery. Indeed, the judge at the trial never pushes the trial process along, if the opposing parties have settled their disagreement without waiting for the jury’s verdict.