Small Claims Court: A Complete Guide

WHEN

Day 1: October 17, 2023 9:00am -1:30pm EST

Day 2: October 31, 2023 9:00am-1:30pm EST

INSTRUCTORS

JP Rodrigues and Dante Spadacini

DURATION

A total of 8 Hours

SUMMARY

This two-day course provides a complete overview of the Small Claims Court (SCC) process and is taught by a seasoned civil litigator. Our instructor will discuss the steps and strategy involved in the first client meeting, preparation of pleadings, attendance at the settlement conference, pre-trial proceedings, the trial day, and its aftermath. The course will also address dealing with self-represented litigants and ethical issues that arise in this type of litigation. This is a complete guide for the everyday SCC lawyer and paralegal!

Day One

Paralegal/Lawyer – Client Relationship
- Professional and Ethical Duty of Confidentiality
- Conflicts of Interest
- Communicating with the Client
- Client File Management
Acting for the Plaintiff
- Preliminary Considerations
- Commencing the Action
- Default Proceedings
Acting for the Defendant
- Drafting the Defence
- Drafting the Defendant’s Claim
- Proposal of Terms of Payment
- Amendment, Striking Out, Stay, and Dismissal
- Procedural Consequences of a Noting on Default

Day Two

- Pre-Trial Orders – Motions
  - Concept of Motions
  - Preparing Motion Materials
  - Different Types of Motions and Forms
  - When Leave of the Court is Required
  - Hearing Motions
  - Relevant Jurisprudence
- Offers to Settle and Settlement Conferences
  - Encouraging Settlement
  - Negotiating Settlement
  - Settlement Conferences
- Assessment Hearings, Trials, and Motions After Trial
- Enforcing Court Judgments

CPD CREDITS

For Lawyers and Paralegals

Law Society of Ontario

Substantive Hours: This program is eligible for 6.5 hours

Professionalism Hours: this program contains 1 hour and 30 minutes of other Professionalism Content

See Full Course Outline

PURCHASING OPTIONS

SINGLE COURSE

$240

Includes:

Attendance at the live eight hour webinar
Access to the course materials
Ability to watch the webinar until December 31, 2024

Add to Cart

If you are interested in several courses from previous years, please contact [email protected].

YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Dante Spadacini

Barrister and Solicitor
Professor, Centennial College

Dante Spadacini is a lawyer with a practice focusing on commercial and residential real estate, corporate law and civil litigation. Dante has appeared before various courts in Ontario, including the Small Claims Court, Divisional Court and Court of Appeal. He holds two Master of Laws degrees from Osgoode Hall Law School, one in Canadian Common Law and a second in International Business Law and is currently faculty at the Centre for Legal and Administrative Studies at Centennial College.

John Paul Rodrigues

Lawyer
Legal Instructor

This session will be moderated by John-Paul Rodrigues, who is an award-winning legal instructor, being a past recipient of Career College Ontario’s Excellence in Teaching Award and the Instructor of the Year at one of the colleges that he teaches at. He is passionate about helping paralegal students accomplish their dreams and goals at a number of colleges, where he is focused on developing and nurturing future legal practitioners into becoming strong and successful advocates.

J.P. is also the host of the Justice in Pieces Guest Speaker Series, where he has discussed with 500+ lawyers, paralegals, judges, politicians and other guests about various areas of the law. J.P. is also an experienced lawyer, working as telephone duty counsel, providing advice to those in need.