In August 2023, we received a Notice of Trial with the scheduled date of late March, 2024. From the date of the Notice of Trial to the actual Trial date, there was just about 7 months notice.
Trial preparation on my files starts the day I draft the Plaintiff’s Claim. I draft my claims the way I will present my argument at Trial.
Prior to the actual Trial date, we meet with our client and witnesses (if any) to go over the evidence and questions that will be asked of them and any potential questions the opposing party may ask. That takes a bit of time, depending on the complexity of the issues.
Trials are now in person, which means I’m waking up hours earlier than I normally do (I know, boo hoo!) to get the Courthouse early, to find parking, and a quiet place to work and have one final review of the matter with the witnesses.
I spent a lot of time preparing for this Trial only to be told by the Defendant (who is self represented), ten minutes before being called into the Courtroom that they would be seeking an adjournment, because their representative was not available.
After asking a few questions, they allege they retained their representative about two weeks prior to the Trial date. The same Trial date that had been scheduled 7 months prior. While we were waiting to be called in, we called the firm who the Defendant claimed to have retained, only to be told they “were in the process of being retained.”
I asked the Defendant why they did not contact us prior to the Trial date to consent to an adjournment, and they kept quiet and shrugged their shoulders. For the record, I had a wicked migraine to the point I was getting sick, but I still showed up ready to go. To say I was not impressed would be an understatement.
During the request to adjourn the Trial, we asked for costs.
The Defendant did not feel they should have pay costs to our client who has been inconvenienced by this matter, not to mention my migraine and the witness who voluntarily attended without being summonsed.
The Defendant provided (*counts on fingers*) five excuses, all of which were irrelevant to the issue of costs.
In the end, they were ordered to pay significant costs, slightly less than what we requested, but not insignificant, nonetheless.
The Judge advised that the Defendant lacked civility in their handling of the issue of an adjournment request. Civility is defined as “formal politeness and courtesy in behavior or speech.” The Defendant, it appears did not feel the need to show civility to our client, their witness, the Court and my migraine.
This attendance could have been avoided had the Defendant showed some civility and reached out to us before the Trial date and the hearing could have been adjourned, avoiding the inconvenience it brought on to a number of parties.
If you require an adjournment at any stage of litigation, the earlier you reach out, the better for all parties involved. In this case, the Defendant knew or ought to have known that waiting up to two weeks to hire someone before a Trial would cause a delay in the proceedings and very little was done to avoid that.
Showing civility to the opposing party, although you may not want to, will only have a positive impact with the Court if an argument of costs must be made at an adjournment of a hearing.
Showing civility and showing respect for people’s time may result in a positive outcome. Don’t wait to the last minute to request an adjournment unless absolutely necessary, or you can end up paying costs you don’t want to pay.
Murray Brown, Licensed Paralegal