Keeping-Tabs-Spring-2023

Not that summary trials guarantee speedy and
affordable adjudication of a matter. In Alberta
where I practise, summary trials may not be
scheduled for over a year after application, but
the Alberta Rules of Court require litigants to file
their evidence for trial on application no matter
how far away the trial dates are. 1 The Alberta
Rules of Court also allow opposing parties to
object to a summary trial application, and at any
stage of a summary judgment application, the
court may order the trial of the action generally
or on certain issues. 2
To avoid sinking time and money into an application
that is ultimately dismissed, it may be helpful
to first canvass the possibility with opposing
counsel to see if they would agree to proceeding
by way of summary trial. In my practice, I have
also found it is sometimes possible to file an application
for trial without an affidavit by indicating
in the application that our client’s affidavit is
forthcoming, especially where all parties have
agreed to a litigation schedule setting out timelines
for delivery of the parties’ affidavit
evidence.
As counsel representing litigants with limited
money to spend on litigation, we need to look
at all available tools and avenues to provide the
appropriate answer to the appropriate problem.
Though they are still underutilized in Alberta,
summary trials may just offer the “just right”
solution to claims that exceed the small claims
limit, but are not so large as to justify a full trial,
but also not simple enough for summary judgment.
Notes
1. See rules 7.5(2)(d) and 7.5(3) of the Alberta Rules of Court
2. See rules 7.8-7.11 of the Alberta Rules of Court.
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