Hamilton Family Court – Notice Regarding Adjourned Family Matters and re-Scheduling of Conferences, Motions and Trials in Family and Child Protection Matters

Issued June 26, 2020

FAMILY MATTERS

Case Conferences and Settlement Conferences

  1. Conferences will be scheduled Mondays and Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The Monday time slots will be allocated first to Child Protection matters and if slots are available then family matters.
  2. Counsel must agree to at least 3 dates (preferably 5 dates) for re-scheduling their matter and then email those dates to the Trial Coordinator at: Hamilton.Family.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  3. Case management dates that were adjourned due to the suspension of operations will be re-scheduled before the previously assigned Case Management Judge.
  4. Counsel must email a Confirmation of the date to: Hamilton.Family.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  5. If a date has not been set through the Trial Office by July 9, 2020 at noon, those matters will be heard at Virtual Re-scheduling Courts to be held July 14 – 17, 2020 pursuant to the May 26, 2020 Regional Notice by Zoom, with appearances at 9:30 am and 1:30 pm.

Trial Management Meetings and Trial Scheduling Conferences

  1. See paragraph 15 below.

Short Motions—Less than 45 minutes

  1. Motions will now be heard on Wednesdays and Fridays at 10:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Motion materials must be concise, and the Protocol of April 7 must be followed.
  2. Counsel must agree to at least 3 dates (preferably 5 dates) for re-scheduling their matter and then email those dates to the Trial Coordinator at: Hamilton.Family.Superior.Court@ontario.ca. Counsel will then be advised of the date set.
  3. If a date has not been set through the Trial Office by July 9, 2020 at noon, those matters will be heard at Virtual Re-scheduling Courts to be held July 14 – 17, 2020 by Zoom pursuant to the May 26, 2020 Regional Notice, with appearances at 9:30 am and 1:30 pm.
  4. On July 10, 2020, by 5:00 pm, dockets of all cases put to Virtual Re-scheduling Courts will be circulated through the email of Hamilton Law Association. Matters will be numbered and will appear on one of the Re-scheduling lists. Counsel must review the lists to determine the dates and times that their matters will be heard. Counsel will be advised of the Zoom call-in information for each of the matters on the Re-scheduling lists.
  5. It is the expectation of the court that counsel will advise any self-represented party of the contents of this notice to ensure that both parties are available at the Virtual Re-scheduling courts. Counsel must advise any self-represented party on a matter of the date and time of the matter, and the Zoom call-in details.
  6. Counsel must canvas dates in advance with the other parties prior to their matter being called during the Re-scheduling Court in the event that they have not organized a new date in advance through the Trial Office as set out at paragraph 1.
  7. Where parties are represented, only fully briefed and instructed counsel shall attend and not their clients.
  8. These are scheduling appearances onlyand therefore no materials are required to be filed.
  9. If counsel or self-represented parties are not available when called during the Virtual Re-scheduling Court, the matter will be adjourned to the timelines to be re-scheduled by counsel or parties through the Trial Office, after July 17, 2020.

Trials

  1. For all adjourned family law trials, counsel must agree with the opposing party as to the trial sittings requested over the next 12 months starting with the sittings scheduled for November 16, 2020 and advise the TC in advance of the Re-scheduling Court of their request, and then they need not attend. The record will be endorsed with the new trial date.
  2. TMM or TSC that were adjourned due to the suspension of operations will be re-scheduled to a date after September 7, 2020. Counsel may arrange the new date as set out in paragraph 1 above.  If new dates are not arranged by July 9, 2020 at noon these conferences will be adjourned to the timelines to be re-scheduled by counsel or parties through the Trial Office to a date after September 7, 2020.

CHILD PROTECTION

  1. Counsel must agree to at least 3 dates (preferably 5 dates) for re-scheduling their matter and then email those dates to the Trial Coordinator at: Hamilton.Family.Superior.Court@ontario.ca.
  2. Case management dates that were adjourned due to the suspension of operations will be re-scheduled before the previously assigned Case Management Judge.
  3. If a date has not been set through the Trial Office by July 2, 2020 at noon, those matters will be heard at Virtual Re-scheduling Courts to be held July 6 – 10 2020 pursuant to the May 26, 2020 Regional Notice.
  4. Appearances will be staggered through the day at 15-minute intervals, commencing at 9:00 am and running until 4:30 pm.
  5. All appearances will take place on Zoom, by audio only. Counsel will be provided with the call-in information for their appearance in advance of the assignment courts and the list will be provided in advance of the Re-scheduling Courts.
  6. The CAS and CCAS must advise self-represented respondents of the date, time, and call-in information for each matter where there are self-represented parties.
  7. These are scheduling appearances onlyand therefore no materials are required to be filed.
  8. There must only be one and the same CAS or CCAS lawyer per virtual courtroom each day.
  9. Where all parties are represented, counsel are encouraged to arrange for CAS counsel to be agent on the scheduling appearance. In that event, counsel must provide CAS counsel with their availability in advance.
  10. Where parties are represented, fully briefed and instructed counsel shall attend and not their clients.

CONTINUED APPLICATION OF REGIONAL NOTICES AND PROTOCOL

  1. The following directions continue to apply:
    1. Regional Notice to the Profession dated June 26, 2020 (effective July 6, 2020) will apply.
    2. The Protocol dated April 7, 2020 continues to apply with respect to the materials to be filed for specific types of appearance. That Protocol is hyperlinked here: https://www.ontariocourts.ca/scj/notices-and-orders-covid-19/cs-family-child-protection/