Representing Yourself in Court

You do not need a lawyer to represent you in court, but if you do not have a lawyer, you will have to do everything that a lawyer would do to prepare your case and appear in court. For example, you will need to learn about:

  • Courts and the Law
    • To start, you will need to know which court will hear your case (Provincial, Supreme, Court of Appeal – or an Administrative Tribunal).
    • You will also need to know what laws apply to your case (civil, family, criminal or administrative law).
    • This may involve legal research.
  • Procedures and Forms
    • You will need to learn about the legal proceedings that will occur during your case. (See an example below).
    • You will need to be aware of the legal timelines relevant to your case. Depending on your case, there are time limits to follow for making a claim, serving documents, submitting evidence, etc.
    • You will need to complete, file and serve standardized court forms.
       
  • Preparing for Trial
    • You will need gather evidence – which may include receipts, letters, witness testimony, photos, etc.
    • You will need to ask and answer questions at the Examination for Discovery. You may need to ask and answer questions for Chambers Applications.
    • You will need to prepare a legal argument for your case.
  • Trial and Judgment
    • You will need to present your case clearly and defend your case against the other party’s arguments
    • You may need to questions witnesses and evidence given
    • You will need to understand the judge’s decision and any orders given
    • You may need to collect moneys if you win your case and you may need to pay court costs if you lose your case.

Trials are time-consuming, intense, and complicated. It is a good idea to talk with a lawyer before deciding whether to represent yourself in court. Your lawyer can explain the litigation process and help you assess the strengths and weaknesses of your case. A lawyer can also answer questions about:

  • the cost of taking your case to court;
  • the length of time it might take to get a final resolution;
  •  the complicated and personal questions you might have to ask or answer;
  • the amount of time and money it takes to prepare for all aspects of litigation, but especially:
    • starting a case
    • document discovery
    • examination for discovery
    • chambers applications, if necessary
    • trial
    • getting your judgment paid.

Worksheet #2: Representing Yourself will help you understand what is involved if you represent yourself in court and what questions to ask a lawyer before you make that decision. It will also help you assess your own ability to handle your own case.

Taking your case to court is a long and complicated process. Here is an outline of the steps in a typical civil case. In this example, you are suing Jack for $30,000 because he sold you a piece of equipment for your business that does not work.

  1. Decide which court should hear your case. You can go to Provincial Court (Small Claims) if you are asking the court to award damages under $25,000. Small Claims court is designed for people going to court without a lawyer. You can reduce your claim by $5,000 to bring it within the limits of Small Claims Court. In this example, you decide to claim for the entire amount that you spent to buy the equipment ($30,000) and you are going to Supreme Court.
     
  2. You must prepare certain documents to start your legal action, and serve the documents on the other party - the person who sold you the equipment. To prepare your documents, you must use the forms that are set out in the Rules of Court. The Rules of Court set out procedures that you must follow and forms that you must use in taking your case to court.
     
  3. The other party – the person who sold you the equipment – files his or her documents, which set out the reasons why he or she is refusing to refund your money.
     
  4. You and the other party exchange documents that you believe support your case and have another opportunity to ask each other questions (under oath). This is called examination for discovery.
     
  5. You might need to go to court before trial to ask the judge to make a certain order. For example, if the other party refuses to show you documents that he has from the manufacturer about the equipment that you bought, you can go to court and ask a judge to order that he show you the documents.
     
  6. You can have discussions with the other party about how to settle your disagreement. You can have these discussions at any time during the court process, right up to the day of the trial.
     
  7. Once the court registry gives you a trial date, you will have to prepare for trial. You will have to organize your documents for the judge to review during trial, think about what questions you want to ask the other party during the trial, find witnesses who may be able to support your claim, and think about whether you need to hire an expert to examine the equipment and give the court his or her opinion about the quality and functioning of the equipment.
     
  8. At the end of the trial, the judge will make a decision about your case. If you lose, you may have to pay court costs for the other party. These costs include disbursements (expenses) and partial payment of his legal fees if he has hired a lawyer. If you have to pay the other party’s costs, you may have to pay several thousand dollars even though you lost your court case. For this reason, it is important to think about settling your case before trial.
     
  9. If you win the case, you will have to prepare an order, which sets out the judge’s decision. You will also have to find out how to collect money owing from the other party. The court will not help you collect money, so it is important to think about whether you will be able to collect the money from the other party, and how you will do that.

Remember that if you do decide to represent yourself in court, you should still meet with a lawyer to get legal advice and find out the best way to present your case to the judge. It is a good idea to meet with a lawyer in the early stages, so you know what your legal options are. A lawyer can explain the legal issues and how the law applies to your situation. Using the Lawyer Referral Service, you can get 30 minutes of legal advice for just $25 – which is great value to anyone with a legal problem.

If you are representing yourself in court, there really is a lot you need to know. The good news is that there is a lot of information online that can help you. Some websites include educational videos, standard court forms, handy guides and easy to understand language to help you address your legal issue. The next section is a good starting point to get Legal Help Online.