A recent case conference memorandum issued by the Honourable Mr. Justice David M. Brown of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has received interest from the Commercial List bar, due to its focused discussion with respect to a desire to increase the use of e-trials at the Commercial List.
Could this be the wake-up call to the legal profession?
In Bank of Montreal v. Faibish, 2014 ONSC 2178, 2014 CarswellOnt 4364, Justice Brown's often colourful memorandum, including the quotation above, provides guidance with respect to the court's support for greater use of e-trials. Justice Brown asked counsel to consult as to whether the trial should be conducted as an e-trial, and in response to some counsel's communication of a desire to conduct a traditional "paper" trial, Justice Brown stated at paragraph 5:
Accordingly, financial institutions, receivers, monitors and other parties who interact primarily with the legal system via the Commercial List should review their current practices and capacity to conduct e-trials, and bring to bear other electronic means to ensure compliance with the future direction of the Commercial List.
In support of this electronic disclosure trend, the judiciary has also informally disclosed to bankruptcy and insolvency professionals, including, without limitation, receivers, monitors and trustees in bankruptcy, of the court's expectation that not only will orders and reports be posted online, but these websites will also include, as appropriate, motion records and all other relevant court materials. Accordingly, insolvency professionals should review current practices to ensure that all relevant documents will be properly posted and that electronic means are brought to bear in any process, even those of the most traditional (and sometimes archaic) nature, to make such matters more efficient and effective.
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