Nancy Sarmento Barkhordari

The plaintiff brought a motion seeking a timetable for discovery and mediation, and costs for an earlier, abandoned motion to strike the defendant's statement of defence due to delay in document production.

The parties consented to a timetable, rendering the motion to strike moot, but the plaintiff pursued costs.

The court found exceptional circumstances warranted an award of costs to the plaintiff, citing the defendant's significant and unexplained delay of over 25 months in providing initial document disclosure.

The court awarded partial indemnity costs to the plaintiff, emphasizing the importance of timely disclosure for civil justice.

The appellant, a class member, sought an extension of time to opt out of a consolidated class action after commencing an individual action without knowledge of the class proceeding.

The motion judge denied the request.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario clarified and affirmed the test for extending the time to opt out: the class member must demonstrate excusable neglect for the delay and show that granting the extension will not result in prejudice to the class, the defendant, or the administration of justice.

The Court found the motion judge erred by not applying this test and by misinterpreting the appellant's evidence.

The appeal was allowed, and the appellant was granted an extension to opt out, as he demonstrated excusable neglect and no prejudice was shown.

This motion concerned an application by The Class Action Clinic, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law, to intervene as a friend of the court in an appeal brought by Donald Parker.

Parker's appeal challenged an unsuccessful motion for an extension of time to opt out of a class action against Her Majesty the Queen in the Right of Ontario, concerning medical care for inmates.

The Clinic sought to provide a framework for determining extensions of time to opt out of class actions.

The court granted the Clinic's motion to intervene, finding that the Clinic could make a useful contribution to the appeal's resolution without prejudicing the parties, given the unsettled legal considerations regarding opt-out extensions in class actions.

Donald Parker appealed a motion judge's refusal to extend his opt-out period from a class action and a related costs order.

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario moved to quash Parker's appeal, arguing the motion judge's order was interlocutory and thus appealable only to the Divisional Court.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Ontario's motion, holding that the motion judge's order was final because it effectively terminated Parker's individual civil action by denying his substantive right to opt out of the class proceeding.

The court emphasized the importance of opt-out rights as substantive rights.

Donald Parker, a class member, appealed an order denying him an extension to opt out of a class proceeding.

He brought a motion seeking an extension of time to perfect his appeal and permission to include an affidavit from his counsel in the appeal book and compendium (ABC) regarding an unrecorded lower court hearing.

The Court of Appeal granted the extension of time to perfect the appeal and allowed the inclusion of the affidavit, finding it permissible under Rule 61.10(1)(i) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, while noting that the relevance of the affidavit would be determined by the appeal panel.