One new court rule has family law lawyers taking a hard look at their cases and how they manage their practices.
King's Bench Rule 24.02(1) now requires a Judge to dismiss a case if three or more years have passed without a significant step having been taken.
This means that a client could lose out on their rights no matter how unfair it might be.
This rule fits with the changes to the family court system in 2019. For example, a trial must be set at the first Case Conference and cannot be adjourned by the clients or lawyers. The Judges have sent us a clear message that they want divorce and separation cases completed much faster than the usual average of what they tell us is 6 to 8 years.
Part of this effort to shorten the average time is to force lawyers and clients to make sure they're doing what they need to to move the case forward. Three years can sound like a long time but often clients and lawyers will spend many months in negotiations, waiting on expert reports or valuations or taking a break as the litigation gets too expensive.
Both clients can expressly consent to an extension of time past the three years but for the spouse who might be on the hook for a family property act equalization payment or spousal support, there may not be an incentive to consent.
Given how quickly years can fly by with the court file not moving, it is very important that both lawyers and clients make note of the three year rule and monitor that deadline closely. If a court case has been sitting on hold for more than two and a half years, the client has to be warned of the three year delay rule and told to either move the case forward or simply discontinue their case.
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