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  • New to this and don't know where to turn.

    I won't go into the whole story.....but I need help. This is a matter which was moved from another city in Ontario to Ottawa. I still use my lawyer in the other City. It seems that the Ottawa lawyer understands the system locally and has managed to outmaneuver my lawyer at many turns.The latest involved a request for adjournment of a settlement conference where the O. lawyer went to a different case coordinator (0ntario Superior Court of Justice) and got before a judge without notice-- said certain unsubstantiated things to a judge and got an endorsement for an adjournment on specific terms without an opportunity for me to respond.

    The issues:
    Do I need an Ottawa lawyer?

    If a lawyer lies/ misrepresents things in the request to the Court what is the recourse?

    The O. lawyer and the other lawyer are in a "war". I want my issues settled fairly. How do I get there?

    Do I need an Ottawa lawyer?
    Last edited by hsl; 10-04-2012, 01:19 PM. Reason: typo error

  • #2
    Originally posted by hsl View Post
    I won't go into the whole story.....but I need help. This is a matter which was moved from another city in Ontario to Ottawa. I still use my lawyer in the other City.
    For what Rule within the Family Law Rules and/or Children's Law Reform Act was the jurisdiction of the court changed under? Or did you consent to the moving of the court file?

    Is the matter before the Superior Court of Justice or was it in the Ontario Court of Justice?

    Note: Divorce requests can only be heard in the Superior Court of Justice.

    Originally posted by hsl View Post
    It seems that the Ottawa lawyer understands the system locally and has managed to outmaneuver my lawyer at many turns.
    If both lawyers are from Ontario there really isn't a huge difference in the understanding of law. There are some jurisdictional requirements with regards to filing time lines, sizes of case conference briefs, etc... But, your local lawyer would have access to all that information as it is public knowledge.

    The lawyer in the court jurisdiction does have an advantage that they know the clerks there but, the clerks can't break the filing Rules etc. The governance of all the professionals involved is pretty strong generally.

    Originally posted by hsl View Post
    The latest involved a request for adjournment of a settlement conference where the O. lawyer went to a different case coordinator (0ntario Superior Court of Justice) and got before a judge without notice-- said certain unsubstantiated things to a judge and got an endorsement for an adjournment on specific terms without an opportunity for me to respond.
    The only way this can be done is on an "emergency" ex-parte motion brought before the court. What you are suggesting is a serious miss carriage of justice by all the professionals involved. Unless the judge heard matters on an "emergency" basis ex-parte nothing what you have described is possible and *your* lawyer should be dealing with the miss carriage of justice. This would be something the Law Society of Upper Canada would have to deal with.

    Judges can only rule against someone without them being present as you described unless the matter is heard on an "emergency" basis and ex-parte. YOu can find the Rules for this VERY complex matter in the Family Law Rules.

    To establish an "emergency" and that it requires the matter to be heard ex-party is very serious matters. (i.e. Removal of children from their habitual residence without consent or a court order, true incidents of intimate partner abuse and child abuse, etc...)

    Originally posted by hsl View Post
    The issues:
    Do I need an Ottawa lawyer?

    If a lawyer lies/ misrepresents things in the request to the Court what is the recourse?

    The O. lawyer and the other lawyer are in a "war". I want my issues settled fairly. How do I get there?

    Do I need an Ottawa lawyer?
    No, you don't need an Ottawa Lawyer. You are very vague as to what the resulting endorsement was... Adjournments are easy to get. It should be done on consent with the other solicitor and it would be improper and unprofessional practice to go directly to the court to request.

    Now if you were before the OCJ and the other party is filing in SCJ for divorce... Then this would trigger a the cancellation of anything before the OCJ as the SCJ is the only jurisdiction that can hear matters of Divorce.

    Again, the other lawyer should have notified your lawyer ("their friend") that their client was filing for divorce and that the court hearing the matter would have to change... But, they can go in and file an Application in SCJ and have the OCJ stuff closed up. Not nice of them to do without notice though.

    Good Luck!
    Tayken

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    • #3
      Thanks for the quick response.

      Comment

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