People Mentioned
Partner, Disputes, Toronto
Recently proposed amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure have prompted concern from lawyers in Ontario. In an effort to improve the provincial justice system, these reforms aim to shorten the timelines of dispute resolution so that litigation must be resolved within two years.
In an interview with Canadian Lawyer, Craig Lockwood a partner in the Disputes Group, considers the two-year timeline. He says, “I do think it’s a little unrealistic, particularly in the commercial world, where you have potentially hundreds of witnesses, thousands of documents.”
“The proof will be in the pudding, in the sense that we’ll have to see how it plays out,” Craig says. “But it strikes me that you’re going to have to cut corners in order to get that two-year window to be functional across the board … it doesn’t really take into account the business realities.”
To accommodate the compressed timeline, the proposed reforms include eliminating oral examinations, changing document production obligations, and introducing new pre-litigation protocols.
“Historically, Ontario has been a very popular jurisdiction for class action by virtue of our bench and our jurisprudence,” Craig says. “If litigants feel that they’re not going to get the same rights in Ontario that they otherwise would — if they’re going to lose oral discovery rights — they may well choose to litigate in another jurisdiction entirely.”
Read the full article by author Jessica Mach posted on October 8, 2025.
People Mentioned
Partner, Disputes, Toronto
