30 December

How to Sue Someone in Calgary: The Definite Guide

Posted by Calgary Personal Injury, Car & Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Suing someone in Calgary is a difficult legal battle because of all the moving parts involved – hiring a personal lawyer, filing the paperwork, representing the hearing, and so on. To complete the legal process even if you hire a lawyer, you must understand how to sue someone in Calgary.

Accident settlement, defamation, or suing someone for their wrongdoing – all of these situations isn’t easy to win in your favor based on what lawyers in Calgary said.

So, knowing the process of how to sue someone rather than the intricacies of the civil law help when you’re suing someone in Calgary.

What Are the Essentials for Suing Someone in Calgary?

The Civil Law exclusively deals with the disagreement between particular individuals and business organizations. Here are the common civil lawsuit details you should know of –

1. Location of The Court You’re Addressing To

The filed document must contain the precise address of the court is addressed to.

2. Plaintiff’s Information

Plaintiff’s information section must contain – your name, address, profession, and information about the lawyer who should represent you on the day of the trial.

3. Defendant’s Information

Defendant’s information must include similar data as to the plaintiff’s one. Such as- the defendant’s name, address, profession, and the details of the lawyer if it’s possible to add that in the description.

4. Facts and Statements

All the right violations and the facts must be stated very distinctly backed with evidence on the matter. These facts should be attached to the claims as it will help the case to gain some momentum.

5. Petitions

Mention everything in your claims, and it’s important because the judge will be confined by the things you’ve mentioned in it. So, any further request after submitting the document will not be included.

How to Sue Someone in Calgary: Step by Step Guide

In order to be suing someone, you must follow these basic steps –

1. Sending A Formal Notice

Before suing a person or an organization, the plaintiff must send a legal notice to the other party for causing the damage. As a formality, this notice is sent to make the other party aware that charges had been brought against him.

2. Officially Submitting the Request

Formal notice isn’t guaranteed to make an impact, and so it’s time for officially submitting a request or filing a claim. The document contains all the details of the applicant, along with his claim for the damage.

Think over and over again before submitting your request as to what your objective is. If you’re filing a case because your neighbor’s son drove a buggy over your $20,000 lawn, the chances are good that it will never catch the eyes of the law.

3. Submitting the Defense Documents and Waiting for Response

In response to the document submitted by the plaintiff, the defendant must present a document entitled ‘defense’ stating his own rights he’d like to assert in the court. But, if the defendant doesn’t react to the plaintiff’s accusation, then chances are strong that the plaintiff shall win over a default judgment.

4. An Attempt for Mediation

Mediation before submitting the final document is also a way to solve the problem. In most cases, both parties along with their lawyers, try to reach an agreement about the compensation after the formal notice had been sent.

In most cases, the opposition party will send its representative for mediation before it even reaches the tribunal. But not every problem can be solved through mediation so, if you’ve got enough enthusiasm to take it to court, then you definitely should.

5. Primary Investigation

Each party must conduct a primary investigation prior to the building of the case. The investigation is simple and involves some question and answers so as to understand the case filed by the opposing party.

6. Registration for the Trial

With both the parties aligned to take the matter to court, the lawyer requests to set a date for the hearing.

7. Pre-Trial and the Trial

Pre-trial usually occurs between the lawyers of both parties and a judge. The judge considers hearing all aspects of the dispute and provides an effective solution.

8. The Final Judgement

The trial or the legal process is when the action begins. The parties along with their respective lawyers, the clerk, the witness, and others, gather in front of the judge. The final decision is given here based on the proof and the decision given by the judge.

9. Appeal Against the Decision of the Judgement

In any case, if a party is dissatisfied with the decision of the judge, then he can appeal the motion of the decision again. And in that case, the matter is asked to be reviewed by the provincial court.

Remember, you cannot just appeal back just because you’re not satisfied with the decision. You must rethink and organize your rationale before applying again.

How Long Can You Take to Sue Someone?

There is a limitation period for any case to be open for suing someone. The timeline depends on the case, which you can confirm from your lawyer. For matters like – debt claims, damaged deposits, unpaid loans, owed rents, etc., you have 2 years. However, there is an exception.

The two-year limitation period does not apply if a litigation guardian does not represent the injured person. Also, it applies for cases if the person in contention is – under 18 years of age, or he/she is physically, psychologically, or mentally unable to carry on the proceeding.

For injury or damage related claims, the timeline is the same, i.e., 2 years. And if you’ve decided to sue your insurance company for being unable to pay for your losses, then you have a limitation period of 1 year.

What costs are involved in making a claim?

A sizeable claim of $35,000 to $50,000 falls under the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court. Filing a claim here is coverable at low costs of filing, for serving documents, and you can certainly proceed easily without having a lawyer as your representative. But, it’s best to hire a lawyer for professional advice just so that you can organize all your facts and documents in the right order.

However, if the claim amounts between $50,000 and $100,000 or more, it definitely falls under the Superior Court of Justice jurisdiction. There is a Simplified Procedure Rule that applies to this kind of case. Even though the process follows a simplified procedure, it can still be daunting for people with no prior experience, which calls for a lawyer’s assistance.

List of Accusations for Suing A Person

How to sue someone in Calgary or the list of acquisition you need to consider before suing someone is another essential thing to understand for you. The legal authority of the court has the jurisdiction to listen to various kinds of claims. Some of the most common claims are –

Claim for Debts
Car Accident
Personal Injury
Damaged Property
Breaking of Contract
Damage Deposit
Wrongful Dismissal
Defamation
Other

What Are the Expenses for Suing a Person?

Standard expenses for suing a person in court depends on the amount you are suing for. Generally, $100 is charged as filing fees for a Civil Claim up to $7,500, and $200 is charged for Civil Claims above $7,500 up to $50,000.

However, these charged apply to only those who can pay the Filing Fees. In case you’re unable to pursue the lawsuit with the regular charges, there’s always an option to apply for a Fees waiver.

Conclusion

All the information in the world on how to sue someone in Calgary would not come to help if you present the right information in the wrong order and at the wrong time.

So, find a great lawyer that can help you understand your current situation and build on your case as you go through it. Simply going cost-effective isn’t always the way to go. But, look into costs so as to keep it affordable and what you need to make a definitive and undeniable claim.