LawPRO has made civil litigation its immediate priority as it seeks to avoid a flood of new claims when new automatic dismissal rules kick in at the beginning of 2017.
Changes to Rule 48 of the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure enacted in 2015 mean that any claim commenced before January 2012 that has not yet concluded or been set down for trial by Jan. 1, 2017 will be dismissed without notice.
Maia Bent, the president of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, says she expects fewer claims in the long run for LawPRO once the Jan. 1 deadline passes.
"The people who might have trouble are those who don't have a proper tickler system. If they have become comfortable relying on the warning from the court that their case is about to be dismissed, that could be a problem," says Bent, a partner with Lerners LLP in London, Ont.
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