Evidence - Law of Spoliation - Destruction of Evidence - Injury Matters

Injury - Accident Lawyers : Spoliation: The law of evidence is complex. One little know evidentiary principle is the legal doctrine of spoliation (it is a rule of evidence). Spoliation is the intentional destruction of evidence to affect existing or anticipated litigation. The main remedy for spoliation is the imposition of the rebuttable presumption of fact that the loss or destroyed evidence would not assist the spoliator. Intentional destruction of evidence is not an intentional tort, nor is there any duty to preserve evidence for the purposes of the law of negligence. Spoliation, as it stands now, is a evidentiary principle and not an independent tort, although the law is evolving and the Supreme Court of Canada may be set to address this issue in a recent Alberta Court of Appeal case which has been appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Marc-Nicholas Quinn, Plant Quinn Thiele LLP, Ottawa Accident - Disability Law Firm. 613-563-1131.

Failure to Defend Action Can Result in Default Judgment Against You - Ottawa Accident Lawyer - www.pqtlaw.com

Once a court action has been commenced, the Rules of Civil Procedure apply. Those Rules provide strict time-lines by which certain steps in the court action must be completed. For example, once served with a statement of claim (originating document that commences a court action), you have 20 days to file and serve a statement of defence. If you fail to do so, the Plaintiff can obtain a noting in default by filing a simple form in Court and then proceed to obtain Default Judgment. That Default Judgment can be set aside but there is a legal test to meet and in most and not all cases, a Justice will set aside the Default Judgment. The cost of bringing a motion seeking to set aside the Default Judgment can range from $2,500 to $15,000, depending on the complexity of the matter. The lesson learned is - once served, retain a lawyer right away to ensure that the necessary time-lines are met. Marc-Nicholas Quinn - Ottawa Injury Lawyer - 613-563-1131.