THE SHERIDAN COLLEGE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED LEARNING

COURSE: LAWS16446 – Small Claims Practice & Procedure

EVALUATION: Assignment #1 – Plaintiff’s Claim (15%)
DATE: Fall 2021
Professor: Hand out: Week 3 Submission method:

Carla Sage Due: The day of your class in week 6 by Assignments to be handed
11:59pm – late penalties of 10% of the value of electronically via SLATE
the assignment per day to a maximum of 5 days Assignment #1 folder
(including weekends and holidays) apply
thereafter.

Assignment Description:

1. The Rationale:

The object of this assignment is to prepare a plaintiff’s claim based upon the attached “Memo to File” client statement in
accordance with the Small Claims Court Rules.

2. Instructions:

 Students must complete this assignment individually.

 Plaintiff’s Claim (15%)

o You are a newly licensed paralegal working at Sheridan Paralegal Associates, 7899 McLaughlin Road,
Brampton, Ontario L6Y 5H9, tel. 905-459-7533. Your Law Society of Ontario number is P12345. The
paralegal you work for has given you a memo based on a client interview and has asked you to prepare a
Plaintiff’s Claim based upon the information in the attached memo.
o The action must be commenced in the appropriate jurisdiction as required by the Rules. You will need to
look up the complete address of the court you select using the Ministry of the Attorney General website:
https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/Court_Addresses/index.php
o For the purposes of this assignment, the claim has not yet been issued so there is no court file number. In
the court file number field on the forms, insert your name. For the date of the claim, insert the date the
assignment is due. Do not sign the claim. Again, as the claim has not yet been issued, there will be no
date or signature by the clerk.
o Refer to the Small Claims Court: Procedure and Practice textbook for the relevant rule and for sample
pleadings; however, do not simply copy the sample pleadings.
o Complete form 7A and set out the details in support of the Plaintiff’s Claim in an attached Schedule “A”
double spaced in 12 point font.
o Properly list all of the relevant documents which are required to support the claim at the bottom of your
Schedule A. There is no need to create these documents; simply list them.

3. Specifications:

 In the court file number field on form 7A, type your full name.

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  The separate Schedule “A” document is to be prepared in 12 point font, double spaced with standard 1 inch margins
and must include a header with your full name and student number.
 Use your assignment due date as the “date prepared” on the last page of the Form 7A
 You do not need to attach the actual client documents to the Schedule “A”, but you must list them as attached.
 You must communicate in a clear, concise, and precise manner using appropriate and professional language.
 Make sure your submissions are free from spelling, structural, grammatical, or punctuation errors. This type of legal
document should not include slang/casual language or grammatic conjunctions (ie. don’t, can’t, they’re).
 An “Acknowledgement Regarding Academic Integrity” form is attached. Students are required to read,
electronically sign, date and submit the acknowledgement with their assignment. Assignments submitted
without the acknowledgement will not be marked.

Please note that assignments which do not conform to the above specifications may be returned to students, ungraded, at the
Professor’s discretion.

4. Course learning outcomes:

This assignment corresponds to the following learning outcomes, as indicated in the Sheridan Course Outline for
LAWS16446:

1. Identify the types of claims that are brought in Small Claims Court.
2. Identify the proper legal parties to a Small Claims Court proceeding.
5. Develop a theory of the client's case with reference to substantive law.
6. Draft a pleading based on the theory supporting a client's case.

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MEMO TO FILE
RE: Kenny Mason claim against Jack Mason c.o.b. Winnebago Man
DATE: September 9, 2021

Kenneth (a.k.a “Kenny”) Mason (client) details:

Age: 25 years
Address:4928 Newton Road, Brampton, Ontario L1L 2M2
Tel.: (905) 555-1212
Business: works as film producer from his home studio

Jack Rabney carrying on business as Winnebago Man (opposing party) details:

Age: 68 years
Address:Winnebago Man, 393 Forefly Rd, Brampton, Ontario L2L 3M3
Tel.: (647) 555-1313
Business: sole proprietor of Winnebago Man RV dealership

Kenneth (a.k.a “Kenny”) Mason is a young film producer who graduated from Sheridan’s Film and Television bachelor’s
degree program two years ago. Since graduation, Kenny has been keeping busy with passion projects like a documentary
about life as a poodle from the perspective of his poodle (Nancy). Kenny has been paying the bills by contracting with local
small businesses to shoot cable tv commercial spots. He doesn’t particularly enjoy the local tv commercial contracts, but feels
it is good experience for his aspiring feature film producing and directing career – he wants to be just like Steven Spielberg!

In June 2021, Kenny’s college friend Marcia passed his name along to a local business owner wanting to hire a film producer
to shoot a commercial tv advertisement for his RV and camper trailer business.

Early in the morning on June 20, 2021, Kenny met Jack Rabney, sole owner of Winnebago Man, in person at his RV
dealership in Brampton, Ontario. Kenny was immediately impressed with the large and extravagant camper tailers and RV’s
he saw on the Winnebago Man lot. It was a hot sticky day and Kenny was anxious to get started with shooting the
commercial, but Jack insisted on giving Kenny the “grand tour” of the dealership. After beep-beeping the horn on, what had
to be, the 14th Winnebago of the morning, Jack finally agreed to sit down with Kenny and review the terms of the services
contact.

The contract stated that Jack Rabney would pay Kenny Mason $32,589.00 plus 13% HST for six hours of filming. Included
in the commercial package were the additional editing, graphics, and music composition required to put together the final
film cut for tv air. The final film cut of the commercial was to be completed by July 12, 2021, with hard and digital copies
being delivered to Jack Rabney at the Winnebago Man dealership by 5:00 pm on July 12, 2021. Both Jack and Kenny signed
the contract.

Kenny requested a non-refundable deposit of the package price ($17,000.00) at the time of the filming, which Jack provided
by certified cheque on June 20th. The remaining balance would be due within 14 days of the delivery of the final film cut and
final invoice on July 12, 2021; otherwise, interest on the amount owing would begin to accrue at a rate of 5% annually.

While Kenny began to set up his lighting and film equipment for the shoot, Jack could be heard inside the large Winnebago
speaking angrily to someone on his cell phone. A few moments later, Jack’s sales associate Tony arrived on the set with cold
towels, grooming supplies, bug spray, and an iced tea for Jack. Long after Kenny has set up for the shoot, Jack was still
getting ready for his big moment on camera. He seemed nervous and anxious about this big commercial. He had already
confided in Kenny about feeling the pressure to sell more inventory – the RV business was not doing well.

At last, Kenny yelled, “Take one! Action!” and Jack’s loud voice boomed into the grip microphone. That first take led to 345
more takes as Jack’s nerves got the better of him and he stuttered through all his speaking lines. Jack became angry at
himself, Kenny, Tony, and the Winnebago (which failed to honk on cue when Jack pumped his fist into it). To make matters
worse, the flies began to swarm around Jack and his iced tea. The flies found their way into the Winnebago camper (Tony left
the door open!) and their swarming buzz interfered with the sound and camera lens during shooting. This made Jack even
angrier. He struggled not to curse and swear into the camera during takes, but every other word he said would have to be
edited out once Kenny got the tape into the studio.

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The shoot was a complete disaster with more “out takes” than viable footage. Poor Tony ran off the set in tears after losing
the bug spray in the first two hours of shooting. Jack did not want to reschedule a re-shoot and instead told Kenny to “get a
clue here and make it work!” Jack just wanted that “gash-darn final cut” for tv.

Over the next few weeks, Kenny spent every waking hour in his home studio trying to piece together a final cut of the
commercial that Jack would accept. Kenny finished the project on the evening of July 11, 2021. The next day, he paid $45 to
courier the hard copy over to Jack at Winnebago Man. The courier confirmed it was delivered via text at 2:15 pm that day.
Kenny also emailed a link to the digital copy of the commercial film along with a final invoice requesting the $19,825.57
balance owing on the contract.

When Kenny did not receive payment from Jack on July 26, 2021, he emailed him asking for payment. He also tried calling
Jack at Winnebago Man but was told that Jack was away “on vacation” and would return his call later. Kenny called and
emailed again a week later, but his call was unanswered, and his email received no reply.

Kenny regrets working with this client. If he wasn’t so exhausted from the project, he might have actually found the footage
of Jack stumbling around and swearing at his Winnebagos quite hilarious. Kenny wants to sue Jack for the balance owing on
the contract plus pre and post judgment interest in accordance with the terms of the contract.

Documents provided by Kenny:

1. Services Contract between Kenneth Mason and Jack Rabney, dated June 20, 2021
2. Final invoice dated July 12, 2021.
3. Copy of Courier confirmation of delivery package to Jack Rabney on July 12, 2021.
4. Email correspondence from Kenneth Mason to Jack Rabney requesting payment on the balance of the contract dated
July 26, 2021 and August 1, 2021.

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 RUBRIC:

Criteria Advanced Proficient Emerging Unacceptable

Form 7A:
 Correct small claims court 5 4 3 0–2
identified.
 Parties correctly identified.
 Pages inserted in correct order
 All fields completed correctly and
free of errors and typos.
 Instruction sheet is deleted or strike-
through.
(- .5 mark per error)

Contents of Schedule “A”:

 Prayer for relief properly formatted. 3 2 1 0
 Prayer for relief claims correct
amount (principal, interest). 3 2 1 0
 Parties correctly identified.
 Sets out all relevant facts underlying 3 2 1 0
claim in chronological order. 5 3 1 0
 Does not include irrelevant or
damaging facts.
 Identifies legal basis of claim. 3 2 1 0
 Lists all relevant documents in
support of claim. 3 2 1 0
(-1 mark per error for each item) 3 2 1 0

Spelling, grammar, punctuation, 8 5 3 0–2

format of Schedule A
(-.5 mark per error)
Tone: 4 3 2 0–1
Professional, persuasive, concise

TOTAL: /40

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 Acknowledgement Regarding Academic Integrity

Course: LAWS16446 Small Claims Practice & Procedure I

Assignment: Assignment #1
Term: Fall 2021

1. I completed this assignment on my own. If this was a group assignment, I worked only with my group members.

2. This assignment was not written by another person, I did not collaborate with another student or review another
student’s work while preparing the assignment.

3. I have never previously submitted this assignment or parts of this assignment for any other course at Sheridan or
elsewhere.

4. I did not share my work with anyone else nor will I share it or post it online after I receive it back from my
professor.

5. I have properly referenced any resources used in completing this assignment using the McGill Canadian Guide to
Uniform Legal Citations or APA, as applicable.

6. If someone proof read my work and provided suggestions for revisions, I completed all the revisions on my own.

7. I asked my professor or a librarian for assistance when I had questions regarding the assignment.

8. I have been careful to protect my work so others do not view it.

9. I understand Sheridan’s Academic Integrity Policy and I am aware of the consequences of breaching the policy
(found at: https://policy.sheridanc.on.ca/).

10. I will attach the original of this acknowledgement to my assignment when I submit it.

Student Name: ______________________________________________

Date: ______________________________________________

Signature: ______________________________________________

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