In the October 30, 2020 article, “Legal Notes: Four ways COVID-19’s legacy will impact, contracts, litigation and labour” published by Daily Commercial News, WeirFoulds construction lawyers Faren Bogach and Kartiga Thavaraj, and law clerk Mike Brown, discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the litigation process.
Should a dispute end up in Court, parties must be ready for hearings using video conferencing. While not a new concept, the COVID-19 pandemic has now made virtual hearings vital to the continuation of Court proceedings. However, those inexperienced with the process could find it disorienting.
The positive result of e-litigation, suggest Faren, Kartiga and Mike, is its potential to improve access to justice, particularly in terms of efficiency and witness participation.
“If correctly planned for, volumes of bankers boxes can be reduced to one USB key, zip folder or drop-box, eliminating the time and expense of producing and riffling through paper materials, and hearings, examinations or mediations can be conducted with multiple parties in different rooms, or cities.” Witnesses, even in foreign countries, can be walked through presentations of complex shop drawings and make their own highlighted responses and clarifications to these and other documents in real time.
Click here to read the full article by John Bleasby and to read Faren, Kartiga and Mike’s “Tips for Preparing for E-Litigation“.