It has not always been easy to keep up with the rapid technological changes to court processes and court hearings that have been happening over the last several months. We have all needed to adapt, and adapt we have! Although, to me, in person hearings remain the ideal way in which to interact with counsel, clients and judges, I admit the Zoom court hearings have been a welcome respite from the added time and stress of the early morning drive to far-away court houses in different cities to argue one case or another. Clients may also appreciate the cost-savings that result from less paper and less travel and waiting times.

Streamlining of court processes has recently been solidified by way of several changes to the Rules of Civil Procedure, and a couple of my colleagues have podcasted about it here. This trend has now also expanded to the Supreme Court of Canada, where the leave application process is reported to be changing effective January 27, 2021. The changes can be found here, and facilitate the electronic filing of material.

Should there be more changes to come, we will keep you posted.

Thanks for reading and have a great day,

Natalia R. Angelini