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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J u l y 2 0 1 4 41 civil procedure and all of the steps and stages have to be followed. That works for many cases but one of the benefits of arbitration is the parties can turn their minds to what is specifically at issue in the dispute and decide what process they want for resolution of the dispute. "That's really helpful because sometimes you don't need to have full production or full oral discovery and some- times you don't need viva voce evidence from all the witnesses at the hearing," says Munro. "It's not uncommon in arbitrations to have hybrid hearings where evidence will go in, in chief, by way of affidavit and some limited examination in chief at the hearing and then cross examination." That can cut out a lot of time. It's also not uncommon in arbi- trations to have time limits imposed by the arbitration panel. For instance, the panel may set 25 minutes for every examination in chief and an hour for cross-examination with a stipulation it all be finished in five days. "Those kind of strict schedules are scary some- times for counsel but they can really be effective because it forces you to focus your case," says Munro. "Justice David Brown has been a strong proponent of these hybrid hearing cases and on the com- mercial list he's actually imposing them in the court system." Another way cases can be resolved faster is if parties agree there will be no appeal. "People like the finality of arbitrations and that makes things get resolved," says Munro. However Fruitman notes there can be appeal rights in a contract or arbitration agreement. Where things get bogged down in arbitration is when the parties can't agree on a process. That means going back to the arbitrator to get a ruling on things that would otherwise be gov- erned by civil procedure. "My experience is that even if you're having difficult parties on the other side, you can still get things resolved fairly quickly, but it's one more obstacle that you would see in an arbitration that wouldn't come up in civil litigation," says Munro. There are also fast-track arbitrations where parties agree they aren't going to require all the bells and whistles provided in rules of civil procedure because the case doesn't demand it. "It's not uncommon that the parties, because they have a comfort level, will say, 'We're simply going to import the rules of civil procedure into the arbitration.' That happens a fair amount because they are comfortable with the protections those rules give them but it kind of defeats the purpose of the arbitration because you don't get the benefits of cost and speed," says Munro. So is it still of primary benefit for some matters to go to court? "Sometimes having your dispute public is important to the parties," says Munro. "I'm a big advocate of the Commercial List where there is a lot of flexibility in how the process can be done with active case management because the list is smaller and it runs differently. A lot of the benefits people see in arbitration exist with the Commercial List." Dedication, knowledge and creativity. Henein Hutchison draws its power from experience and its talent from a team of rising stars. The firm's associate ranks include three clerks of the Supreme Court of Canada and one clerk of the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Experience and depth. More experience. More defence. | www.hhllp.ca E N O U G H TA L E N T TO F I L L A R O O M . Untitled-3 1 14-04-30 12:44 PM

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