Canadian Lawyer

will help to "functionally define [vexatious litigants] collectively for what they literally are. These persons employ a collection of techniques and arguments promoted and sold by 'gurus' to disrupt court operations and to attempt to frustrate the legal rights of governments, corporations, and individuals." The justice also dismissed the so-called gurus behind the erratic concepts voiced by OPCAs as "nothing more than conmen" and "parasites." Michele J. Reeves, a veteran litigation lawyer in Edmonton and counsel for Crystal Lynne Meads, says she does "a ton" of family law, and "another ton" of civil cases. Was Meads her first exposure to vexatious self-reps in a courtroom? "Hell no," she says. "I'm old and it seems like it's always been going on since I first entered a courtroom. Vexatious litigants are not the norm, but they are a common problem and feature in family law — and it's not just self-reps." She says they are easiest to spot in morning chambers, where they derail proceedings over the need to produce documentation. "They come in and start their spiel, 'That's my commercial name, but it's not me. I'm a sentient man, yadda, yadda, yadda.' Sometimes they even bring in the Magna Carta. The poor judges sit there like the proverbial deer in the headlights," she says. "You could never charge your client for all the time and trouble it costs to deal with all their shenanigans. They'd go broke. As a lawyer, you just have to have the patience to slug through it to the end. I like to tell people that dealing with vexatious litigants is like eating an elephant: you have to do it slowly, one bite at a time." In this case, she says she quickly realized Dennis Meads was "going to take us to Crazytown. And he wasn't even that bad. But once it became clear that he was going to be difficult, I did what I always do in those cases, I brought in a motion for case management." Normally, she adds, the judge will issue a decision on the matter. But in this case Rooke called the parties to open court. "That was interesting. I knew something was up." She said it took only a few questions from Rooke for Dennis Meades "to start doing his thing." She says the judge listened patiently to all of his arguments, then declared he would render a written judgement — another rarity in a case like this, notes Reeves. "When you read his ruling it's obvious that Justice Rooke had an agenda. He was waiting for a case like this." Relying on results of research he conducted, Rooke concluded a decade of reported cases, many of which he refers to in his ruling, have failed to prove a single concept advanced by OPCA litigants. "What remains is to categorize these schemes and concepts, identify global defects to simplify future response to variations of identified and invalid OPCA themes, and develop court procedures and sanctions for persons who adopt and advance these vexatious litigation strategies," he wrote. He provides a painstaking, point-bypoint analysis of the "OPCA schemes, concepts, and arguments" he says were advanced by Dennis Meads, who he says "appears to be a sophisticated and educated person (but) is also an OPCA litigant." For example, at his initial appearance in the child custody and spousal support case, Meads affirmed he was "a child of the almighty God Jehovah; a living, flesh and blood sentient-man," not a child of the state. Documents he filed with the court were also highlighted with multiple colours of ink, featured blue thumbprints in lieu of signatures, and contained the flamboyant and convoluted language the judge says is typical of OPCAs. The respondent demanded, for example, that his wife cease and desist from "an Enticement in Slavery," warning that she risked being subject to "full commercial liability and unlimited civil liability." He also claimed a right to address the custody and support issues at hand according to his own interpretations of various sources, including the Bible, American trade laws, and principles of what he called "universal law." By categorically detailing and refuting each of Dennis Meads' actions, Rooke says he hoped to "uncover, expose, collate, and publish the tactics employed by the OPCA community as part of a process to eradicate the growing abuse that these litigants direct towards the justice and legal system we otherwise enjoy in Alberta and across Canada." He also expressed hope that his ruling will help self-represented litigants "who have been taken in or duped by gurus, to realize that these practices are entirely ineffective; to empower opposing parties and their counsel to take action; and as a warning to gurus that the Court will not tolerate their misconduct." Rooke recommends several procedural reforms to help the court system deal more effectively with OPCAs; suggesting court staff, for example, refuse to accept non-conform submitted documents and to categorize those materials "as irrelevant except for the purpose of costs, vexatious litigation and litigant status, and contempt and criminal sanction." He suggests his fellow judges strike down "irrelevant submissions and pleadings" from litigants they consider to be vexatious and abusive, and award punitive damages and higher settlements in those cases. "Dealing with an OPCA litigant is difficult and frustrating," concludes Rooke. "The fact that they are almost always self-represented (only) adds to the challenge. Timely and cost-effective resolution of these disputes requires that an action be pared down to its legitimate substance." Not surprisingly, the judge's ruling attracted national media coverage and set the legal biz abuzz. "The decision sends a stern warning to OPCA litigants that the courts are on to their game," Margaret L. Waddell, a partner at Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP in Toronto, wrote in her canadianlawyermag.com column. "I take my hat off to Justice Rooke (and his) strong position to curb these vexatious litigants and bring them to heel." Vancouver-based family law lawyer and blogger John-Paul Boyd agrees. "This decision is remarkable and should be required reading for judges, lawyers, court administrators and clerks across the country," he wrote a few days after the ruling. Boyd calls Rooke's ruling "a www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m Jan uary 2013 45

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