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Topic 5: Stages of a Lawsuit

 In superior courts, a lawsuit can comprise four stages:
1. Pleadings
2. Discovery
3. Trial and Decision
4. Enforcement
Stages of a
Lawsuit ◦ In Alberta, these stages are governed by the Alberta Rules
of Court, which is a regulation promulgated under the
Judicature Act, RSA 2000, c J-2

◦ Each province has its own rules for civil litigation.

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 ◦ Pleadings are documents that are filed with the court and
exchanged between the parties to a lawsuit.

◦ Pleadings contain the parties’ allegations against each

other and are not evidence of anything at all.

Phase 1: ◦ Pleadings ensure that every party fully knows the case
The Pleadings against them.

◦ The pleadings stage avoids “trial by ambush” by

obliging every party to explaining their case or their
defence.

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 ◦ A lawsuit is started when the plaintiff prepares and files
a STATEMENT OF CLAIM in the Court of Queen’s
Bench.

◦ The Statement of Claim is a document, called a

pleading, that explains:

Pleadings:  Who is being sued (i.e. describes the defendants);

 What happened to cause loss to the plaintiff;
 The legal principles involved in the case;
Statement of Claim  The amount of damages claimed;

◦ The Statement of Claim is not proof nor is evidence.

◦ It is merely an outline of allegations that the plaintiffs

intends to prove as the lawsuit proceeds.

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 ◦ Once the Statement of Claim is served on a defendant,
that party has a limited time to file a STATEMENT OF
DEFENCE (20 days).

◦ The Statement of Defence, also a pleading document,

explains:

Pleadings:  Any different version of events that the

defendant intends to prove;
 Any additional legal principles involved in the
Statement of Defence case;
 Why the defendant is not responsible.

◦ The Statement of Defence is not proof nor is evidence.

◦ It is merely an outline of allegations that the defendant

intends to prove as the lawsuit proceeds.

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 ◦ If a defendant is of the view that the plaintiff has caused
damage to the defendant, it will issue a Counterclaim
against the plaintiff.

 “I don’t owe you money, you owe me money”

Pleadings: ◦ If a defendant is of the view that someone else who

hasn’t been sued caused the damage to the plaintiff, it
will issue a Third Party Claim against this person or
entity to make them a party to the lawsuit
Counterclaims &
Third Party Claims  “I don’t owe you money, this other person caused your loss”

◦ Counterclaims and Third Party Claims are pleadings

like a Statement of Claim and will require a responding
Statement of Defence.

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 ◦ Disputes involving less than $50,000 go to
Provincial Court (Civil).
Pleadings:
◦ The same pleadings are called the Civil
Claim and the Dispute Note and Third
Provincial Court Party Claim.

◦ Same Pleadings, different forms.

◦ Rules of discovery and evidence are

relaxed in Provincial Court.
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 ◦ Discovery is a 2-stage process by which the
parties disclose all of their documentary
and oral evidence to each other.

◦ Firstly, documentary evidence is

Phase 2: exchanged.

Discovery ◦ Secondly, the parties examine each other

on their oral evidence.

◦ Discovery avoids trial by ambush, which

is a waste of time and resources.

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 ◦ (a) to obtain evidence that will be relied on
in the action,

Discovery: ◦ (b) to narrow and define the issues between

parties,
Purpose
Rule 5.1(1) ◦ (c) to encourage early disclosure of facts
and records,

◦ (d) to facilitate evaluation of the parties'

positions and, if possible, resolution of issues
in dispute,

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 ◦ Rule 5.5(1) “Every party must serve an
affidavit of records on each of the other
parties … “

◦ Rule 5.6(1) “An affidavit of records must …

disclose all records that … are relevant and
material to the issues in the action, and …
Discovery of are or have been under the party’s control.”
Documents
◦ Plaintiff must deliver AoR within 90 days
after a Statement of Defence is filed.

◦ Defendant must deliver its AoR 60 days

after receiving the Plaintiff’s Aor.

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 ◦ After all the parties have exchanged
Affidavits of Records, they are entitled to
Questioning for Discovery
Questioning ◦ QFD is an examination of the parties’
for representatives, under oath, but outside
of a Court.
Discovery
◦ Every word spoken while the examination
takes place is recorded by a Court
Reporter who makes a transcript

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 What kinds of Questions are asked?

Appropriate questions and objections

5.25(1) During questioning, a person is required to answer only

(a) relevant and material questions, and

(b) questions in respect of which an objection is not upheld under subrule (2).

(2) A party or a witness being questioned may object to an oral or written

question during questioning but only for one or more of the following reasons:

(a) privilege;
(b) the question is not relevant and material;
(c) the question is unreasonable or unnecessary;
(d) any other ground recognized at law.

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When something is relevant and material

5.2(1) For the purposes of this Part, a question, record or information is relevant and
material only if the answer to the question, or the record or information, could
reasonably be expected

(a) to significantly help determine one or more of the issues raised in the
pleadings, or

(b) to ascertain evidence that could reasonably be expected to significantly help

determine one or more of the issues raised in the pleadings.

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 ◦ There may be multiple rounds of oral
Questioning for Discovery.
Questioning
for ◦ For example, if questioning reveals there
are documents that have not been
Discovery produced, they must be produced and
Questioning will take place again if the
documents reveal new information.

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 “A trial ... primarily involves the receipt of
evidence, usually oral, weighing of that
evidence and arriving at conclusions of fact
Phase 3: against which the law may be applied to
Trial give a primary remedy to a litigant.”

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 Trials are usually before a judge alone, who is the trier-of-fact and
also applies the law.

Jury trials are rare. When there is a jury, they act as the trier-of-fact,
but it is the judge who applies the law.

Phase 3: The plaintiff will put forward their witnesses first and the defendant
will put forward its witnesses after the plaintiff is done.
Trial
In civil cases, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff to prove their case
on a “balance of probabilities” (e.g. 51% or more likely than not that
the plaintiff’s version of events is what happened.

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 ◦ After the the plaintiff and defendant are done calling
witnesses, they will make submissions about legal
rules and precedents that support their case.

Questioning
◦ The judge makes a decision, which is the judgment of
for the court that specifies which party is successful and

Discovery why.

◦ The judge determines who pays the costs of the case.

◦ Costs: Legal expenses that a judge orders the loser to

pay the winner.

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Enforcement
◦ The final stage of the litigation process is
enforcement of the judgment awarded to the winning
party.
◦ The winner must enforce the judgment with the
assistance of
the court.
◦ Judgment debtor: The party ordered by the court to
pay a specified amount to the winner of a lawsuit.

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