The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50825
T E C H guidelines made things easier, intro- ducing condensed briefs, with just the documents counsel was planning to re- fer to in arguments, arranged in order. "Now," Christie says, "[judges] won't be touching anything. It's quite an evolu- tion, from those towers [of documents] to the screen. They'll be able to focus on the argument now, not on trying find the right documents." E-filing will eventually help democ- ratize the judicial process too, Brown believes, ensuring that justice is not only done but seen to be done. Reporting on trials now is left mainly to the media, she points out. But in the future the public could see for themselves via webcasts and web-accessible court documents. "It opens a whole new door in terms of the open-court ideal." There are obstacles to overcome, Brown concedes. How do you ensure privacy, confidentiality, and security when documents are available online, for example? But the court and bar as- sociations are working on solutions. The shorter-term goal for the April pilot was to work out kinks in the courtroom pro- cess in the lead-up to the October roll- out. It did expose a few minor flaws. In a criminal case, one lawyer came to court with a compendium of briefs for the day, which the guidelines did not require him to file. The documents referred to were available electronically but not easily accessible. Brown specu- lates the court will change guidelines to require filing of such compendia. In the second trial, one of the lawyers spoke so rapidly and referred to so many documents that the clerks could not find them quickly enough. Result: docu- ments didn't always appear on screens at the time counsel was talking about them. In the old days, judges would jot down page references and check them later. Still, a potential benefit was lost. Another refinement the court will probably introduce in future, Brown says, is requiring documents with refer- ences to case law to include embedded links to online summaries, which will S U PP O R T make it easier still for judges and oppos- ing counsel to follow arguments. Producing the electronic filing for the pilot trial was relatively easy, say Christie and Gesikowska. For one thing, the vol- ume of documents for a Supreme Court hearing is typically much smaller than for lower courts. Merrill Lynch involved about 800 pages, 375 from BLG. Under the initial guidelines, counsel has a grace period of five days after the due date for paper documents before they have to submit the CD. Both dead- lines are a month or so before the court date. If there are problems with the CD, Christie explains, the court will simply send it back for repairs. The one potential negative for lawyers: when appearing for the first time at the SCC after October, they will have to ar- rive an hour early for a training session. Still, a small price to pay. Gerry Blackwell is a London, Ont.-based freelance writer who can be reached at gerryblackwell@rogers.com www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com JUNE 2008 21