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The Rules of the Small Claims Court provide that a lawsuit must be commenced either where the cause of action arose or where the Defendant resides or carries on business. For example, imagine that you loaned someone in Toronto $30,000 and the person now lives in Barrie. That means that you could bring your lawsuit either in Toronto (where the cause of action arose) or in Barrie (where the Defendant currently lives).
There are many Small Claims Court locations throughout Ontario. Click here to see a full list of Small Claims Court addresses in Ontario.
Small Claims Courts in Ontario can help you recover money or property from a Defendant, up to a limit of $35,000 (note that the limit used to be $25,000, but was increased to $35,000 in January of 2020).
This means that if you want to sue someone for $35,000 or less or to have them return property of yours worth $35,000 or less, the Small Claims Court is the right place for you.
The Ontario Small Claims Court does not have the jurisdiction to make someone do anything other than pay you money or return your property. For example, if you are having a dispute with a contractor and the contractor refuses to complete the job, a deputy judge of the Small Claims Court can not order that contractor to finish the job. You could still sue the contractor in Small Claims Court in order to have them pay you, but if you wanted an order forcing them to actually complete the work, you would need to file an action or application in the Superior Court of Justice instead.
The Small Claims Court also can not hear disputes involving amounts greater than $35,000. For example, if you want to sue someone for $80,000, you would have to bring your claim in the Superior Court of Justice.
To find out if the Small Claims Court can help you with your legal dispute, call us right now for your consultation at (437) 222-2234.
A frequently asked question is whether lawyers are allowed in Small Claims Court in Ontario. The short answer is, yes, absolutely. There is no requirement to have a lawyer at Small Claims Court, but with the Small Claims Court’s limit recently raised from $25,000 to $35,000, many people prefer to have a lawyer represent them at Small Claims Court.
Call us right now at (437) 222-2234 to see how we can help you.
In Ontario, the Small Claims Court process looks like this:
First, a Plaintiff (the person suing) files a Plaintiff’s Claim with the Small Claims Court. This document sets out who the Plaintiff is suing, why, and for how much. Filing a Plaintiff’s Claim with the court formally starts the lawsuit process.
Second, the Plaintiff’s Claim is served on the Defendant (the person the Plaintiff is suing). The Defendant will then have 20 days to file their Defence, which will likely either deny the Plaintiff’s allegations or set out their own version of events.
Third, a settlement conference will take place. These settlement conferences used to take place face-to-face at the courthouse. As of November 23, 2020, however, these settlement conferences are now being heard remotely either through telephone or video conference for social distancing. As the name suggests, the settlement conference is an opportunity for the Plaintiff and Defendant to reach a settlement. The conference is a short meeting where the Plaintiff and their lawyer speak with the Defendant and their lawyer in front of a deputy judge of the Small Claims Court and see if a mutually satisfactory settlement can be reached.
Fourth, if a settlement is unable to be reached, the final step is to proceed to trial, where the Plaintiff will have an opportunity to show the judge documents and call witnesses proving their case and the Defendant will have an opportunity to show the judge their documents and call their own witnesses to explain why they think they should not be held liable.
At Powell Litigation, we offer affordable flat rates for each of these different stages of the Small Claims Court process. Call us right now at (437) 222-2234 to see how we can help you.
Generally speaking, the timeline for a Small Claims Court case in Ontario looks like this:
The Plaintiff’s Claim is delivered and the Defendant files their Defence within 20 days.
Several months after the Defendant has filed their Defence, the settlement conference will take place.
If a trial is required after the settlement conference, it will usually take at least another six months before the court schedules a trial.
*Note that these are approximate timelines that are accurate at the time of writing: November 23, 2020. If there are adjournments or motions brought, these timelines can be dragged out significantly.
If you have been served with a Plaintiff’s Claim, you must file your Defence within 20 days of the date that you received a copy of the Plaintiff’s Claim. For example, if you receive a copy of the Plaintiff’s Claim on November 10th, you would have to file your Defence by November 30th.
If you do not file a Defence, the Plaintiff may seek default judgment. Default judgment is where the Plaintiff alerts the court that they have served you with the lawsuit but you have not defended, and so asks for an automatic or “default” judgment. To protect yourself, it is very important that you do not miss the deadline to file your Defence.
From there, the process follows the steps outlined above in, “How Does Small Claims Court Work in Ontario?”
To see how we can help, call us today at (437) 222-2234.
How are you coping with the stress of all this? Are you spending your time and energy worrying about what your next steps should be? Are you finding yourself distracted and unable to enjoy time with your family? When dealing with legal problems, it’s common for people to feel overwhelmed. The good news is, you don’t have to feel that way anymore.
If you’ve made it to this website you’ve obviously realized that you need legal help with your situation and are looking for ways to solve it. Congratulations, you’ve made it to the right place. If you need a small claims court lawyer, we are some of the toughest in Ontario and are ready to fight for you.
Our firm has represented hundreds of individuals and businesses across Ontario and is well respected by judges and lawyers alike.
In fact, in 2020, Powell Litigation was voted the Best Law Firm in the Toronto Star Readers’ Choice Awards.
We also have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and over 40 Five-Star Reviews on Google. To speak with a top small claims court lawyer today, call us at (437) 222-2234.
Fantastic work by Mr. Powell and his team. Referred them a litigation matter and they were able to get great results in a short window of time. They provide undivided attention to your matter.
– Khesrau Ahmadi, Toronto
We hired Powell Litigation to help us with a condo dispute. Weston was absolutely fantastic. He is extremely knowledgeable, eager, and trustworthy. He helped us to understand the legal nuances of our case and our options moving forward. We recommend Powell Litigation in the strongest possible terms and will trust him with our business going forward!
– Lesley Thornton-Cronin, Toronto
You know the injustice we’re talking about. Someone has wronged you. It could be in any number of ways. Maybe they owe you money. Maybe they’ve told lies about you and hurt your reputation. Maybe they didn’t keep their promise to you and left you high and dry. You can just picture their smug face asking, “What are you going to do about it?”
Well, you can start by getting all the advice you need to make an informed decision. In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, we are offering safe and easy consultations by way of telephone or video conference. Yes, you read that right. You can speak with a small claims court lawyer and have all of your questions answered from the safety, comfort, and convenience of your own home.
As you can imagine, there are a lot of people who need the help of a small claims court lawyer at the moment. Our office has been flooded with calls and we will not be able to extend this offer for very long. To have a simple and easy consultation with a small claims court lawyer, call us right now at (437) 222-2234.
What can you expect during your consultation? Well, our lawyers are some of the most sought after legal talent in Ontario, so we have to start every consultation with a conflict check. We need to make sure that your adversary hasn’t already reached out to us. If they have, we will have to promptly end the call.
Once we’ve run the conflict check, we’ll listen intently to your story, answer all of your questions, and then give you strategic legal advice tailored to your specific situation. We will treat you the same way we would treat our families if they got in legal trouble: with straightforward, no-nonsense advice given in the simplest terms possible. Call us right now for your simple and easy consultation at (437) 222-2234.
Do you want to know a secret about why large law firms in Toronto are so outrageously expensive? Well, for starters, they have massive overhead. Their offices are in the financial district which has the highest commercial rents in the entire province. Do you benefit at all from them having those really nice offices? Nope. Not at all. Lawyers argue their cases at court, not at their offices, so it doesn’t matter whether their offices are in overpriced steel and glass towers downtown or in a nice professional building in North York like us.
We are a young legal team, yet we have more courtroom experience than most lawyers who have been practising for decades. At the end of the day, what matters is the experience and skill that your lawyer brings to the table. What you really need is a lawyer who is as comfortable in the courtroom as they are in their own living room. The only way to get that level of comfort is by going to court. A lot. And that is exactly what you can expect from your Toronto civil litigation lawyer at Powell Litigation.
You’ll be shocked by this. At a recent trial, I was facing off against a lawyer who has literally been practising law since I was born. He did a fine job (although we ended up winning the trial and getting $170,117.84 for our client. You can read the decision here). What was shocking was that this lawyer confided in me that, after decades of practising law, this was his very first trial! Can you imagine that?
To get a lawyer with the courtroom experience you need to win your case, call us today at (437) 222-2234.
I contacted Powell Litigation for some legal assistance concerning my business and immediately felt very comfortable and knew I was in the right place.
Mr. Powell’s communication and responsiveness were beyond my expectations throughout the process; he was clear, intelligent and honest with a real understanding of my concerns. He was always accessible, listened intently and answered all my questions directly, offering both highly professional advice and recommendations.
When my case went to court, is when I saw Mr. Powell’s true skill and brilliance at work.
He handled the proceedings with the highest degree of professionalism, achieving an outcome in my favor and a monetary result higher than I could have ever expected.
Mr. Powell’s passion for his work is definitely clear. He is knowledgeable, efficient and extremely attentive to detail which makes him very pleasant to work with. Weston Was instrumental in winning my case and I am extremely fortunate to have found him. I would without hesitation and wholeheartedly recommend working with him to my friends and colleagues, knowing they would be in strong capable hands with an attorney who truly cares.
Thank you does not seem like enough for what Weston did for me.
– J.O., Richmond Hill
