Pleadings: Statement of Claim, Statement of Defence, Counterclaim, Third Party, Claim, Notice of Application, Notice of Appearance, Notice of Appeal.

The pleadings are documents filed with the courts by every party to the litigation.  The pleadings is summary of each party position and facts pertinent to the legal action.  Sometimes, the parties include summary of law applicable to the alleged facts.  The properly prepared pleadings are essential in litigation: those are the first documents that tells the judge what the litigation is about and what is the position of every litigant before the lawyers present evidence before the court.

Typical legal action is commenced by the plaintiff issuing a Statement of Claim with the originating court registrar.  Statement of Claim contains summary of the plaintiff's allegations of the incurred damages or other relief the plaintiff asks the court for, as well as allegations of material facts in support of the asked relief.  The facts are required to be drafted in separate paragraphs. During a typical civil trial, the lawyers have to prove the allegations of facts in each paragraph by presenting the court with evidence as proof of the allegations.

Occasionally,  litigation is commenced by way of application. The application proceedings are commenced with scheduling an appearance before the court and the issuance of Notice of Application.  The applications are typically used where the litigants ask the court to interpret meaning of legislation, contract will or other legal document, to make a declaration of ownership rights, administration of estate or trusts.  The relief being asked for is called "declaratory relief".  Please note that since Ontario Small Claims Court have very limited jurisdiction to adjudicate the declaratory reliefs, such applications are normally commenced before Superior Court of Justice (General Division).  The application procedure is normally less expensive and more expeditious comparing to legal actions for damages.  Nevertheless, the legal action for damages commenced by a Statement of Claim may include request to the judge to grant declaratory relief, such as declaration that the defendant breached the contract or other orders or declarations.

The originating documents such as Statement of Claim and Notice of Application must be served personally on the defendants/respondents in accordance with the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure.   It is very important for the defendants to deliver Statement of Defence (or, in case of applications, Notice of Appearance).  The penalty for ignoring the properly served originating pleadings is default judgment against the defendant. It may be difficult and expensive to set aside the default and setting aside default usually requires reasonable explanation of the reasons for failure to deliver Statement of Defence or Notice of Appearance.

If the defendants choose to dispute the Statement of Claim or the application, the defendants can deny the allegations of facts in the plaintiff's Statement of Claim and provide the courts with the defendants' explanation of facts.  Alternatively, the defendants may defend legal action or application on legal grounds, such as the plaintiff's failure to commence litigation within the limitation period, jurisdictional grounds or other legal grounds.  At this time, the defendants may want to issue a counterclaim against the plaintiff or to add third parties to the legal action.  It is emperative to immediately consult a litigation lawyer and secure legal representation or at very least to obtain lawyer's assistance in preparation of the pleadings well before the deadline for the delivery of the defence.  It may be very difficult to change (amend) the pleadings on the later stage, especially when the defendant is making admissions in the defence or adding a new party to the action or application is necessary.

The properly prepared pleadings give trial judge (or motion judge) the synopsis of what the case is about.  Also, well drafted pleadings identify the differences in parties' positions and to narrow issues and properly exchange the documents during the examination for discovery.

Lawyer's Practice.