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A lawsuit is a commercial decision before it is a legal one. We tell you what the claim is worth, what it will cost to run, how long it will take and where the realistic exit points are, before you file anything. This is the door into fifty dispute services, from a Small Claims filing through to the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
Book My Consultation →The Limitations Act, 2002 imposes a basic two-year limitation period running from the day the claim was discovered, with an ultimate fifteen-year bar under section 15. Missing it usually ends the claim outright.
Disputes, from small claims to the Court of Appeal.
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A civil litigation lawyer represents parties in private disputes before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, governed by the Rules of Civil Procedure. The work includes assessing the claim and limitation period, drafting pleadings, documentary and oral discovery, motions including summary judgment, mediation and settlement negotiation, trial advocacy, enforcement of judgments, and appeals.
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Civil litigation is the process by which one person or company asks a court to compel another to pay money, to do something, or to stop doing something. In Ontario the principal forum is the Superior Court of Justice, and the procedure is set by the Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194, made under the Courts of Justice Act. Those rules govern everything from how an action is started under Rule 14, through documentary disclosure under Rule 30 and examinations for discovery under Rule 31, to costs under Rule 57 and appeals under Rule 61.
The first question a litigator should ask is not whether you have a good claim. It is whether litigating it is a rational use of your money. Rule 1.04(1) requires the rules to be applied so as to secure the just, most expeditious and least expensive determination of every proceeding on its merits, and Rule 1.04(1.1) adds that orders and directions must be proportionate to the importance and complexity of the issues and to the amount involved. Proportionality is not a slogan; it is the lens through which a judge will assess your document production, your discovery plan and your eventual costs claim.
The commercial reality is that the overwhelming majority of civil actions in Ontario are resolved by settlement, discontinuance or a pre-trial disposition rather than by a judgment after trial. Mandatory mediation applies to most Toronto actions under Rule 24.1, pre-trial conferences under Rule 50 are designed to force a realistic conversation about outcome, and Rule 20 summary judgment now decides a meaningful proportion of cases without a full trial. Planning a case as though trial is the destination is usually the most expensive way to run it.
Lexaltico LLP acts for businesses, shareholders, professionals, contractors, lenders and individuals in Superior Court proceedings across Ontario. We do not take a case simply because it can be pleaded. We give you a written assessment of merits, recovery risk, cost and timeline first, and we say plainly when the answer is that the claim is not worth running.
Where a claim is brought drives almost everything about what it costs. Section 23 of the Courts of Justice Act sets the monetary jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court, which is currently $50,000 exclusive of interest and costs. Above that figure the action belongs in the Superior Court, and within the Superior Court there are two tracks. Rule 76, the simplified procedure, applies where the claim is exclusively for money, real property or personal property with a value of $200,000 or less, exclusive of interest and costs. Rule 76 is mandatory in that range, not optional, and a plaintiff cannot escape it by abandoning part of a claim in bad faith.
| Feature | Small Claims Court | Simplified Procedure (Rule 76) | Ordinary Procedure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monetary range | Up to $50,000 | Over $50,000 and up to $200,000 | Over $200,000, or non-monetary relief |
| Governing authority | Courts of Justice Act s.23; Rules of the Small Claims Court | Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 76 | Rules of Civil Procedure generally |
| Use is optional | Yes, a plaintiff may abandon the excess | No, mandatory within the range | Applies by default above the range |
| Oral discovery | Not available | Limited, with a strict time cap per party | Rule 31, subject to the discovery plan |
| Jury trial | No | Not available under the rule | Available for certain claims |
| Typical cost profile | Lowest | Intermediate | Highest |
Rule 76 was substantially tightened effective January 1, 2020. Discovery is compressed, the trial is time limited, and evidence in chief is delivered largely in writing. The trade-off is real: you give up procedural room in exchange for a materially cheaper and faster path. For a claim in the $60,000 to $180,000 range, that trade is usually worth making, and in any event the choice is not yours to make once the rule applies.
Rule 76 contains a costs sanction for a plaintiff who runs an ordinary-procedure action and then recovers an amount within the simplified range. Inflating a claim to escape Rule 76 is a strategy that tends to be punished at the costs stage rather than rewarded at judgment.
Before anything else is assessed, the limitation period must be checked. Section 4 of the Limitations Act, 2002 provides that a proceeding shall not be commenced in respect of a claim after the second anniversary of the day on which the claim was discovered. Section 5 defines discovery: the day on which the person first knew that the injury, loss or damage had occurred, that it was caused by an act or omission, that the act or omission was that of the defendant, and that a proceeding would be an appropriate means to seek to remedy it. A person is also presumed to have known those matters on the day the act or omission took place, unless the contrary is proved.
Section 15 imposes an ultimate limitation period of fifteen years from the day of the act or omission, regardless of discovery. Section 16 lists claims to which no limitation period applies, including a proceeding for a declaration where no consequential relief is sought and certain enforcement proceedings. Other statutes displace the basic rule entirely: the Real Property Limitations Act governs many claims relating to land, the Libel and Slander Act sets a three-month limitation for newspaper and broadcast libel, and the Construction Act sets its own preservation and perfection deadlines for liens.
Two practical points follow. First, a limitation defence is fatal, not procedural: if it succeeds, the merits are never reached. Second, discoverability arguments are fact-intensive and expensive to litigate, so the sensible course is to treat the earliest arguable trigger date as the real deadline. If you think something may have gone wrong, get advice long before the second anniversary of the event.
The action is commenced by statement of claim under Rule 14. A defendant served in Ontario has twenty days to deliver a statement of defence, extendable to thirty by delivering a notice of intent to defend. Counterclaims, crossclaims and third party claims are added at this stage.
Rule 21 allows a question of law raised by a pleading to be determined before trial, or a pleading to be struck as disclosing no reasonable cause of action. Rule 26 governs amendments, which are granted generously unless the other side suffers prejudice that cannot be compensated.
Under Rule 30 each party delivers an affidavit of documents disclosing every document relevant to any matter in issue that is or has been in its possession, control or power. Rule 29.1 requires the parties to agree on a discovery plan that reflects proportionality.
Rule 31 permits oral examination of an adverse party, subject to the time limits in Rule 31.05.1. Undertakings given on discovery must be answered, and refusals are resolved on motion. This is normally the most expensive phase of an ordinary-procedure action.
Mandatory mediation under Rule 24.1 applies to most Toronto actions. Offers to settle served under Rule 49 begin to carry costs consequences from the moment they are made, which is why the timing of an offer matters as much as its amount.
Rule 20 allows judgment where there is no genuine issue requiring a trial, and the Supreme Court of Canada in Hryniak v. Mauldin directed that the rule be used to provide a proportionate and timely process. If the case proceeds, it is set down for trial and pre-tried under Rule 50.
Costs are fixed under Rule 57 and section 131 of the Courts of Justice Act. Prejudgment interest runs under section 128 and postjudgment interest under section 129. Appeal routes are set by section 6 and section 19 of the Act and by Rule 61.
Rule 24 permits a defendant to move to dismiss an action for delay, and Rule 48.14 requires an action to be set down for trial or terminated within five years of its commencement, failing which it may be dismissed. Litigation that is started and then left alone does not simply pause; it can be lost administratively.
Ontario is a loser-pays jurisdiction. Section 131 of the Courts of Justice Act gives the court discretion over costs, and Rule 57.01 lists the factors: the result, the amount claimed and recovered, the complexity and importance of the issues, the conduct of any party that lengthened the proceeding, and whether any step was improper or unnecessary. In practice a successful party commonly recovers a substantial portion of its actual legal fees on the partial indemnity scale, and a higher proportion on the substantial indemnity scale where that is engaged. A losing plaintiff therefore pays twice.
Rule 49 is the single most important cost-control tool available. Where a plaintiff makes an offer that is not accepted and then obtains a judgment as favourable as or more favourable than the offer, the plaintiff is presumptively entitled to partial indemnity costs to the date of the offer and substantial indemnity costs thereafter. Where a defendant makes an offer and the plaintiff fails to beat it, the defendant is presumptively entitled to its costs from the date of the offer onward. The offer must be served at least seven days before the hearing starts and must not be withdrawn or expire before the hearing commences.
The second risk that is routinely underestimated is collection. A judgment is a piece of paper until it is enforced through garnishment, a writ of seizure and sale, or an examination in aid of execution under Rule 60.18. Before spending money on a claim, we look at whether the defendant has assets, whether those assets are already encumbered, and whether a corporate defendant is worth suing at all without a personal guarantee or an oppression claim against the individuals behind it.
Timelines are equally sobering. A straightforward simplified-procedure action that settles at mediation may conclude within a year. An ordinary-procedure commercial action with documentary discovery, expert evidence and contested motions frequently takes several years to reach trial, and an appeal adds further time. None of this argues against litigating a strong claim. It argues for deciding early, on the numbers, whether the claim is one worth funding.
Our first deliverable on a disputed matter is an opinion, not a pleading. It sets out the cause of action and the limitation position, the evidence we have and the evidence we would need, the realistic range of outcomes, the recovery prospects against the specific defendant, and a phased budget covering pleadings, discovery, mediation, motions and trial. Many clients read that document and choose to negotiate instead. That is a legitimate result and often the right one.
Where litigation is the right answer, we run it on a phased budget so you are never surprised by a bill, and we revisit the settlement analysis at each procedural milestone as new information emerges. We do not promise outcomes, because no lawyer can. We do commit to telling you what we think your position is worth at each stage, including when that number has moved against you. To discuss a dispute, contact our litigation group.
Examinations for discovery settle more Ontario civil actions than trials do. Each side questions the other under oath before a court reporter, and the transcript can be read in at trial. An answer given on discovery binds the party who gave it, so an answer that cannot be reconciled with a document produced three months earlier is a problem that does not improve with time.
Discovery begins with documents. Each side serves an affidavit of documents listing what it has, what it is withholding and on what basis. Getting that wrong is expensive in both directions: a document that surfaces late looks like concealment whether or not it was, and an unjustified refusal to produce invites a motion the refusing party usually loses.
Preparation matters more than most clients expect. It means knowing the documents before the other side asks about them, understanding which admissions are survivable and which are not, and being ready for the uncomfortable questions rather than only the convenient ones. Undertakings given on the day have to be answered afterwards, and they are tracked.
By the time an action is set down for trial both sides usually know what the evidence is. What separates them is what they did with it.
A civil case is built out of witnesses. Documents are not self-proving; with limited exceptions they enter the record through a witness who can speak to them. A case with excellent documents and nobody available to introduce them is not the case it appears to be on paper.
Lay witnesses give evidence of what they saw, did and said, and are then cross-examined. Preparing a witness means making sure they understand the process and tell the truth clearly. It does not mean scripting them, and a witness who sounds scripted damages the case they were called to support.
Expert witnesses give opinion evidence where the subject lies beyond ordinary knowledge, and only where the opinion is relevant, necessary, and given by someone properly qualified. An expert owes a duty to the court that overrides any duty to the party paying the fee, and that duty is acknowledged in writing. Reports are served in advance, and an expert who has not complied with the rules may not be heard at all.
The most common evidentiary failure is not a poor witness. It is a good witness whose account was never tested against the documents before trial.
Where the client is a regulated professional, the exposure is often the licence rather than a judgment, and that proceeding is not litigation and does not behave like it. Professional regulatory defence explains the stages and the deadlines.
Our lawyers offer a initial consultation for most matters. Call, email, or book online. Do not sign anything before speaking with us.
55 University Ave, Suite 1100
Toronto, ON M5J 2H7
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The difference is practical rather than technical. A page explaining that spousal support is usually indefinite after a twenty year marriage is accurate as a general statement and may be wrong about you, because of a domestic contract you signed, a period of separation you have forgotten, or an income that is not what a tax return says it is.
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We must confirm in writing that we are prepared to act. Not every matter is one we can take, and saying so early is better than taking a file we cannot properly serve.
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Information sent through a form, or by email, before a retainer is signed is not covered by solicitor client privilege. That is not a policy we chose. It follows from there being no solicitor client relationship for the privilege to attach to.
It can also create a problem for you. If you send us detailed information about a dispute and we are later approached by the other side, what you sent may affect whether we can act for either of you.
So tell us the shape of the problem and leave out the detail: the area of law, roughly when it arose, and whether anything is urgent. That is enough for us to say whether we can help. The documents come after the retainer.
Case results described anywhere on this site are real and are described accurately, and they are specific to their own facts. A settlement at three times the original offer happened because of that employer, that contract and that person’s history. It says nothing about what your matter is worth.
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