Written by David Sterns on April 14, 2025

LITIGATORS—and everyone who cares about access to justice:

Over the next two weeks, I’ll be highlighting how Ontario’s proposed civil justice reforms will erode access to justice—particularly for individuals, small businesses, and victims of fraud, abuse, or systemic wrongdoing.

One of the most troubling aspects of the proposal is how it distorts the idea of “efficiency.” In reality, these reforms will drive up costs, create procedural bottlenecks, and delay meaningful resolution—especially for those least able to absorb the impact.

Requiring plaintiffs to marshal their trial evidence at the very outset—before meaningful discovery—and sharply curtailing rights of disclosure will mean:
• Higher upfront costs for individuals and small businesses
• More flying blind, leading to last-minute amendments, wasted judicial resources, and costly do-overs
• Fewer early settlements, because parties won’t have the information they need to resolve disputes

Meanwhile, large institutional defendants will still control the flow of information—with litigation teams and internal records at the ready. Plaintiffs will be left making critical decisions in the dark.

That’s not efficiency. That’s procedural inequality disguised as reform.

If you work with vulnerable clients or in complex litigation, now is the time to engage. The consultation is open until June 16, 2025. We are preparing access-to-justice–focused submissions and welcome others to contribute.

Let’s make sure well-intentioned reform doesn’t put justice even further out of reach.

Please email me at dsterns@sotos.ca if you’re interested.

#AccessToJustice #CivilReform #OntarioLaw #Litigation #FraudVictims #RulesOfCivilProcedure #JusticeForAll #LegalReform