Small Claims Settlement Conferences (20:XI)

Settlement conferences are held in all court registries except for Vancouver (Robson Square).Settlement conferences are mandatory for all cases except motor vehicle accident cases where only liability for property damage is disputed, or if rule 7.4, 7.5, 9.1 or 9.2 applies to the claim221.

A. Who Must Attend

The registry will serve the parties by mail with a Notice of Settlement Conference (Form 6) at least 14 days in advance222.

All parties, with or without legal representation, must attend the settlement conference, although there is a limited exception for certain motor vehicle claims223. If a party is not an individual (e.g., a company), someone who has authority to settle the claim for the company must attend224. If a party sends a lawyer or articled student and does not attend personally or send a company representative, that party will be deemed to have not attended the settlement conference. A party may appear by elephone if an application is made to and approved by the Registrar prior to the date set for the conference225. If a party does not attend or does not have full authority to settle, the judge can dismiss a claim, grant a payment order, or make any other appropriate order226. If a party attends but is unprepared, a judge may order the unprepared party to pay the other party’s reasonable costs227.

Witnesses cannot attend except in unusual and exceptional cases. A witness who does attend the settlement conference will usually be asked to wait outside.

B. What to Bring

Each party must bring to a settlement conference all relevant documents and reports whether the party intends to use them at trial or not228. Documents include any contracts, invoices, bills of sale, business records, photographs, and summaries of what each witness will say in court (“will-say” statements).

Each party should prepare a brief chronological summary of its case and support it with evidence. Claimants should bring more than one written estimate or quote, if there is a large sum of money involved.

If the claim is for personal injury, the claimant must file and serve a Form 7 certificate of readiness and required records229 before a settlement conference will be scheduled. There can be consequences for failing to file the certificate of readiness on time230.

C. What May Happen

A settlement conference is scheduled for 30 to 60 minutes before a judge in a conference room at the courthouse. The judge at the settlement/trial conference will not be the judge at trial, if a trial is necessary. The parties will sit at a table with the judge. The judge will say a few words and ask each party to give a brief summary of their case. The judge may then lead both the claimant and defendant into a discussion on what, if anything, the parties can agree on. If the parties agree on the final result, the judge will make the order. However, the parties may agree on some issues and leave issues in dispute to be resolved at trial. The judge will assess how much time is required for trial.

A judge at a settlement conference may make any order for the just, speedy, and inexpensive resolution of the claim231.This includes mediating and making orders regarding admissibility of evidence, inspections of evidence, or production of evidence to the other party. The judge may also dismiss a claim232 that discloses no triable issue, is without reasonable grounds, is frivolous, or is an abuse of the court’ s process. Examples include claims that are outside the court’ s jurisdiction, where the claimant presents no evidence, or where the limitation period at the date of filing the Notice of Claim had expired. A judge cannot dismiss a case at the settlement conference on the basis of issues relating to the credibility of witnesses or evidence.

A judge may also order that multiple claims be heard at the same time, or consolidated into one claim233. The distinction is important. Claims heard at the same time may each individually be awarded up to $25,000, while claims which are consolidated into one claim may only be awarded $25,000 combined.