Are you trying to learn about the B.C. Supreme Court’s rules of civil procedure for legal proceedings in British Columbia?
Well, good luck with that. Unfortunately, luck won’t do much good unless it’s combined with time and patience because learning the court’s civil rules is far from an easy task and they’re certainly not to be taken lightly.
It can take even the best and most well-trained lawyers more than five years of practising law to know the rules inside and out. Even then, the court can change them on a whim with updates and amendments that can be difficult to stay on top of even at the best of times.
If you are a self-represented litigant in British Columbia, you should talk to us here at ClearWay about legal coaching and other options since so many people cannot afford to hire a lawyer full-time.
We can connect you with lawyers that can help with B.C. Supreme Court cases in Victoria, Surrey, and Vancouver.
Having a lawyer represent you full-time is always the best option if you can afford it. While the upfront costs can seem staggering, you should know that if you win your case, you can have your legal costs awarded to you, meaning the other side will have to pay for some or all of your legal fees.
The best way to access and read the Supreme Court Civil Rules is on the B.C. Laws website, but you may not have time to go through them all, so we here at ClearWay have created this helpful guide to highlight what we feel are the most important aspects of the Supreme Court Civil Rules in B.C.
Civil Rules of Procedure in B.C.
Of course, if you go it alone without a lawyer and represent yourself and lose your case, you can be ordered by the court to pay all or a portion of the other sides’ legal fees. When going through a Supreme Court dispute, it’s not necessarily the best time to try and save money.
Paying money to experienced legal representation can pay serious dividends, but there are no guarantees especially if you’re up against a wealthier opponent. Being litigious, in other words, doesn’t come cheap.
The situation you find yourself in may be dire and in need of fixing right away like if your roof was to collapse on your home and the rain is pouring through the hole. Your first instinct may be to start YouTubing how to fix a roof when what you really need is a team of roofers with the right tools and equipment to stop the leak. The same goes for a court proceeding.
You Will Likely Pay a Heavy Price for Making Mistakes
But what if you make a mistake? Chances are that you will make many if you’re unfamiliar with the court’s rules of civil procedure. The Supreme Court of British Columbia is a lot stricter than the Provincial Court.
People without lawyers have been fined thousands of dollars for missing deadlines that cause delays in a proceeding. That’s about how much it would have cost to have a lawyer attend for them, a costly and avoidable mistake.
So now, they’ve lost their case and had to pay the legal fees anyway. But for many people, they simply don’t have $10,000 of $20,000 to spend on a lawyer. Some may go into debt or even use an online crowdfunding site to fund their legal battle.
Supreme Court Civil Rules Costs
A lot of people Google the term “supreme court civil rules costs,” which suggests a lot of people don’t understand the rules around when a court awards costs.
What they’re met with is a rundown of the Supreme Court Civil Rules, which are extremely long and complicated. And that’s only a starting point. Depending on your situation, you might need to know about the Business Corporations Act or the Evidence Act, or several other pieces of provincial legislation upon which you can base a cause of action. For slip and fall lawsuits, for example, there’s the Occupiers Liability Act. For class actions, there’s the Class Proceedings Act.
Imagine that during a hearing the opposing lawyer mentions an act or the rules and you’re unfamiliar with both? The judge will not care if you are a lawyer or not. The judge will not provide you with legal advice or help you, though they are supposed to be accommodating to self-represented or “pro se” litigants.
Many judges in the Supreme Court of B.C. may not enjoy dealing with parties without lawyers, perhaps even actively biased against self-represented individuals. The only advice they may provide is telling you to get a lawyer, even if you’re financially unable to do so and legal aid isn’t available.
Judges may dislike non-lawyers arguing in a higher-level court
This may not look like justice to an outside observer, but it does happen. Judges dislike non-lawyers arguing in a higher-level court because they feel it’s wrong for non-lawyers to be up against more knowledgeable and well-trained opponents.
Opposing lawyers and judges can find any number of reasons to rule against you since ignorance of the law is no defence. The courts, therefore, are not a place to go in blind to see how things go. Self-represented people who don’t know the Supreme Court Civil Rules are no doubt ill-equipped from the get-go.
Supreme Court Civil Rules Forms
The B.C. Supreme Court makes forms available online for download, but the system is far from perfect. Unfortunately, you will have to search online for a way to get rid of the so-called “hard coding” on the Supreme Court Civil Rules forms on the court’s website. Downloading fillable PDF copies could require software updates. But you can convert the text versions made available online to a PDF and then convert them back to Word to fill them out.
It’s easy to find the forms (all 124 of them!) but they are a nightmare to use and download. It can take hours of formatting to get them right. Law firms already have them in boilerplates formatted the right way, which saves them time. If you’re not a lawyer or a law firm, you likely don’t have that advantage.
Again, the deadlines can be very tight. When the forms are not filled out correctly court staff will reject your filing. If you miss a deadline, you might lose your case and may be ordered to pay the other side’s legal fees. If not, you might get hit with special costs, which is basically a fine.
Helpful Legal Tips in British Columbia
Instead of just trying to memorize five-plus years of legal knowledge in a month, you should know the truth about going to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Here at ClearWay, we have had people contact us that are either being sued or are out a bunch of money because of something someone else did.
In the Supreme Court of B.C., monetary claims must be over $35,000 in most cases. Smaller amounts are dealt with in Provincial Court, also called small claims court, or the provincial Civil Resolution Tribunal. And just because someone files a lawsuit in either provincial or supreme court doesn’t mean it’ll end up in front of judge.
B.C. Supreme Court Civil Rules
In fact, most cases settle before going to trial. A case can either be dismissed early on in the case of a successful motion to dismiss, which isn’t what we actually call it in British Columbia. It’s called an application to strike pleadings.
The Supreme Court Civil Rules outline the procedures involved in every type of situation you may face, which could be numerous depending on the complexity of your claim.
Supreme Court Civil Rules BC
The case can also settle after the discovery process is completed and both sides know the evidence to be presented at trial. From the outset, people often want to know exactly how much it will cost to see their case through, and though they may provide a ballpark of the overall bill, the lawyer may have no idea until they know exactly what they’re dealing with in terms of trial length and other factors.
Hypothetically, let’s say that a plaintiff named Steve Smith was suing someone for an unpaid loan of $100,000. He doesn’t get a lawyer and wants the full amount, while a lawyer experienced in debt collection lawsuits would have settled somewhere in the middle, since the other side is claiming they have grounds for a countersuit, for example.
If Steve had hired a law firm to represent him, let’s say he would have spent $50,000 on the settlement and $20,000 on legal fees. A total cost of $70,000.
If Steve ignores the lawsuit or doesn’t win his lawsuit because he didn’t hire a lawyer, then he might have to spend $100,000 for a judgement against him, in addition to $20,000 for the other person’s legal fees for a total cost of $120,000.
While the above example is hypothetical, it is based on many cases that have wound their way through the court system over the years.
For people looking for help with small claims court matters in the Provincial Court of B.C., you can see some of our other articles on how to seek small claims settlements.
Winning Your Court Case
In another hypothetical situation, let’s say that John Smith (no relation to Steve) contacts us here at ClearWay. He tells us he is out $100,000. If he hires a lawyer and wins, we tell him, he might get $100,000, plus his $20,000 in legal fees.
But if he loses, he might get nothing and have to pay the other person’s legal fees. This means he is now out $20,000 like Steve, who went to court without a lawyer. Hopefully, after contacting ClearWay and getting connected with a lawyer, John doesn’t make the same mistake as Steve.
ClearWay always tells people to take the B.C. courts seriously and hire someone that knows the Supreme Court Civil Rules, lest they end up losing their case and losing their money needlessly.
The BC Laws website will outline a massive amount of rules one must follow when going to court.
The procedural rules deal with
- How to make a claim
- Responding to a claim
- Making a counterclaim
- Pleadings instead of a notice of civil claim
- What happens when you don’t respond (default judgment)
- How to serve documents in BC
- Case planning conferences
- Trial management conferences
- Trials
BC Supreme Court Civil Rules
The COVID-19 pandemic, though, threw courthouses for a loop and many were closed to the public for months. But the good news is that courts are open for business again, and not just for extreme and urgent cases. This means that all of those non-urgent civil issues are now ready to be heard after pandemic-related public health measures caused new bottlenecks on dockets already choked by too many cases, not enough courtrooms, not enough sheriffs, and not enough judges.
Perhaps you have a case that you believe should go before the Supreme Court, but how much do you really know about the Supreme Court of B.C.?
Supreme Court Civil Rules Basics
The BC court system has three levels – provincial, supreme, and the court of appeals. Beyond and parallel to that is the federal court system, but the ultimate court of last resort is the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Provincial Court is the lowest level and adjudicates civil cases up to $35,000, as well as family matters, youth criminal justice matters, and traffic violations. For smaller claims, there’s British Columbia’s Civil Resolution Tribunal, which handles car accidents, monetary claims up to $5000, strata property matters, and disputes involving incorporated societies and cooperatives.
The Supreme Court is a higher-level trial court. In addition to appeals from the Provincial Court, it adjudicates civil cases over $35,000, family law cases that involve divorces and property, and more serious criminal offences, including federal matters such as international treaty disputes and extradition cases.
The Court of Appeals is the highest provincial court, hearing appeals from the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court’s Rules
If you intend to file a civil case in the Supreme Court, familiarizing yourself with the court’s rules should be high on your list of priorities, especially if you’re handling some or all aspects of the case yourself. If you have hours upon hours to read, and if you understand legal language, you may gain some understanding, but it will likely not be enough.
Though you may gain insight on how to go about navigating your claim, it will be nothing compared to what an experienced litigator knows after years of practice in mastering the Supreme Court Civil Rules.
Supreme Court procedural rules pertaining to:
- How to make a claim
- Responding to a claim
- Making a counterclaim
- Pleadings instead of a notice of civil claim
- What happens when you don’t respond (default judgment)
- How to serve documents in BC
- Case planning conferences
- Trial management conferences
- Trials
Any missteps may mean you lose your case and/or face court fines for not following the procedures, such as missing a deadline. Judges may be sympathetic to your plight as a non-lawyer, but on a bad day, they might lose their patience and punish you for causing unnecessary delays in a case due to ignorance of the rules. Judges are only human, and they have limits just like anyone else.
What are Your Options for Bringing a Case Before the Supreme Court?
You have three:
Representing yourself: try to learn the rules for each step in your case, complete the proper forms, meet the deadlines, and then argue your case in court. This is a risky option, especially if you have no experience with the forms or in the preparation of a verbal argument before a judge.
For example, if you are not a skilled writer, you will have to contract and pay writers per hour who have the legal expertise to complete forms and prepare your arguments. But paying a non-lawyer to prepare your pleadings could also be risky since the only people allowed to provide legal services for a fee are licenced lawyers who are members of their province’s law society.
Process and procedures
ClearWay can help set up a consultation with a lawyer in Victoria, Surrey, and Vancouver. Once they’ve been in touch, they can coach you through the process and procedures and may agree to help for a nominal amount of money.
This is an attractive option if you cannot afford a full-time lawyer to handle your case. Still, you are on your own when you appear in court and make your arguments.
Another option is to hire an attorney to represent you through the entire process. This may appear to be the most expensive option at first. But consider this: an experienced lawyer will prepare the best possible case, will meet the deadlines for all filings, and present the best argument in court. They are duty-bound to provide their clients with the best representation possible.
In the end, this may save you a great deal of money, and the chances of winning your case are far greater. And when you win your case, it’s likely that most or all of your legal fees will be paid by the other side.
Options On Dealing with a Supreme Court Matter
Option one – representing yourself – is the riskiest, especially if the other side files a countersuit, not only denying your claims but also claiming that they are in fact the injured party in the dispute. If you lose your case, you may end up paying the opposing side for a judgement on the countersuit and their legal costs as well.
Many judges in the system, unfortunately, do not look favourably upon individuals who represent themselves.
They clearly prefer to deal with practicing lawyers in court proceedings, especially when they bring up points of law and legal precedents that the average citizen may not be familiar with or understand.
Option two – hiring a lawyer on a so-called limited-scope retainer – is less risky, but the onus might be on you to present your case before a judge should it come to trial. Again, if you lose, you pay everything.
Option three – hiring a lawyer to handle all aspects of the process – is the best option for those who can afford it. More than likely, the lawyer you hire will be able to advise you upfront if you have a viable case that has a good chance of being won.
Case Study: Looking at a Real World Example
Sharon was being sued for $100,000 in Supreme Court. She looked at her options. If she doesn’t respond, she will receive a judgment against her for that $100,000, plus another $20,000 for the other side’s legal expenses – $120,000 in all. Obviously, this is not a good option.
The other option is for Sharon to hire a lawyer to analyze the situation and present all the possible outcomes of the case.
The lawyer may negotiate with the plaintiff for a reduced settlement. If the lawyer determines that Sharon is liable, he will initiate negotiations and seek the best deal possible. In most cases, this will be for half of the lawsuit amount plus legal fees, but every case is different.
Sharon will therefore pay $70,000 to the plaintiff, at most – half of the original suit amount plus legal fees. She will also pay her own attorney’s fees. Even at $10,000, her total cost is $80,000, as opposed to $120,000 if she had defaulted or unsuccessfully fought the case on her own.
The lawyer may determine that Sharon should not be held liable for the $100,000, and that she should fight it in court. If Sharon wins, she owes nothing to the plaintiff, and the plaintiff must pay her legal fees. Since there was no judgement released in Sharon’s case, it’s safe to assume she settled and likely saved thousands by listening to the advice of her lawyer.
Supreme court civil rules lessons
When lawyers are involved, most civil cases are settled “out of court,” meaning that they never actually go to trial. This will usually reduce costs for both parties. Still, other cases may be settled at any time during the proceedings, should both plaintiff and defendant agree to the terms.
While learning the rules on your own is certainly possible, nobody becomes an expert overnight. Finding experts in civil litigation (injury claims, breach of contract, injunctions, etc.) will give you the edge you need to have a fighting chance in court, whether it’s you being sued or you doing the suing.
For any of these needs, consulting an expert lawyer should be your first step and ClearWay Law is here to help you find the right lawyer for your specific needs because the old saying “rules were made to be broken” simply doesn’t apply when it comes to going to court.