P. Santini

The plaintiff brought a motion seeking an extension of time to complete the examination for discovery of the representative of the defendant insurance company.

The defendants opposed the motion, arguing the plaintiff had exceeded the seven-hour limit under Rule 31.05.1 and sought to strike the affidavit sworn by a staff member of the plaintiff's counsel.

The court declined to strike the affidavit, finding it appropriate for a procedural motion.

The court granted the plaintiff an additional 1.5 hours for discovery, noting the complexity of the 17-year business relationship and the conduct of defence counsel, but declined to award costs due to the plaintiff's failure to address time limits in the discovery plan.

The plaintiff brought a motion to strike the defendants' jury notice in a motor vehicle accident claim, arguing prejudice due to the indefinite suspension of civil jury trials during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court granted leave to hear the motion and took judicial notice of the fact that while a judge-alone trial could be scheduled in the near future, the timeline for resuming civil jury trials was unknown.

Balancing the substantive right to a jury trial against the need for a timely and affordable resolution, the court struck the jury notice but allowed the parties the option to return to court if a jury trial becomes available before the scheduled judge-alone trial.