Small Claims Court Lawyer

Hear What Makes Us Different

Answers To Frequently Asked Questions

Which Small Claims Court Do I Have to Go to?

The Rules of the Small Claims Court provide that a lawsuit must be commenced either where the cause of action arose or where the Defendant resides or carries on business. For example, imagine that you loaned someone in Toronto $30,000 and the person now lives in Barrie. That means that you could bring your lawsuit either in Toronto (where the cause of action arose) or in Barrie (where the Defendant currently lives). There are many Small Claims Court locations throughout Ontario. Click here to see a full list of Small Claims Court addresses in Ontario.

What Can the Small Claims Court Help Me With?

Small Claims Courts in Ontario can help you recover money or property from a Defendant, up to a limit of $35,000 (note that the limit used to be $25,000, but was increased to $35,000 in January of 2020).

This means that if you want to sue someone for $35,000 or less or to have them return property of yours worth $35,000 or less, the Small Claims Court is the right place for you.

What is the Limit of the Small Claims Court?

The Ontario Small Claims Court does not have the jurisdiction to make someone do anything other than pay you money or return your property. For example, if you are having a dispute with a contractor and the contractor refuses to complete the job, a deputy judge of the Small Claims Court can not order that contractor to finish the job. You could still sue the contractor in Small Claims Court in order to have them pay you, but if you wanted an order forcing them to actually complete the work, you would need to file an action or application in the Superior Court of Justice instead.

The Small Claims Court also can not hear disputes involving amounts greater than $35,000. For example, if you want to sue someone for $80,000, you would have to bring your claim in the Superior Court of Justice.

To find out if the Small Claims Court can help you with your legal dispute, call us right now for your consultation at (437) 222-2234.

Are Lawyers Allowed in Small Claims Court?

A frequently asked question is whether lawyers are allowed in Small Claims Court in Ontario. The short answer is, yes, absolutely. There is no requirement to have a lawyer at Small Claims Court, but with the Small Claims Court’s limit recently raised from $25,000 to $35,000, many people prefer to have a lawyer represent them at Small Claims Court.

Call us right now at (437) 222-2234 to see how we can help you.

How Does Small Claims Court Work in Ontario?

In Ontario, the Small Claims Court process looks like this:

First, a Plaintiff (the person suing) files a Plaintiff’s Claim with the Small Claims Court. This document sets out who the Plaintiff is suing, why, and for how much. Filing a Plaintiff’s Claim with the court formally starts the lawsuit process.

Second, the Plaintiff’s Claim is served on the Defendant (the person the Plaintiff is suing). The Defendant will then have 20 days to file their Defence, which will likely either deny the Plaintiff’s allegations or set out their own version of events.

Third, a settlement conference will take place. These settlement conferences used to take place face-to-face at the courthouse. As of November 23, 2020, however, these settlement conferences are now being heard remotely either through telephone or video conference for social distancing. As the name suggests, the settlement conference is an opportunity for the Plaintiff and Defendant to reach a settlement. The conference is a short meeting where the Plaintiff and their lawyer speak with the Defendant and their lawyer in front of a deputy judge of the Small Claims Court and see if a mutually satisfactory settlement can be reached.

Fourth, if a settlement is unable to be reached, the final step is to proceed to trial, where the Plaintiff will have an opportunity to show the judge documents and call witnesses proving their case and the Defendant will have an opportunity to show the judge their documents and call their own witnesses to explain why they think they should not be held liable.

At Powell Litigation, we offer affordable flat rates for each of these different stages of the Small Claims Court process. Call us right now at (437) 222-2234 to see how we can help you.

How Long Does Small Claims Court Take in Ontario?

Generally speaking, the timeline for a Small Claims Court case in Ontario looks like this:

The Plaintiff’s Claim is delivered and the Defendant files their Defence within 20 days.

Several months after the Defendant has filed their Defence, the settlement conference will take place.

If a trial is required after the settlement conference, it will usually take at least another six months before the court schedules a trial.

*Note that these are approximate timelines that are accurate at the time of writing: November 23, 2020. If there are adjournments or motions brought, these timelines can be dragged out significantly.

What Happens When You are Sued?

Now You Can Sleep Soundly, Knowing You Are in Strong, Capable Hands

How are you coping with the stress of all this? Are you spending your time and energy worrying about what your next steps should be? Are you finding yourself distracted and unable to enjoy time with your family? When dealing with legal problems, it’s common for people to feel overwhelmed. The good news is, you don’t have to feel that way anymore.

If you’ve made it to this website you’ve obviously realized that you need legal help with your situation and are looking for ways to solve it. Congratulations, you’ve made it to the right place. If you need a small claims court lawyer, we are some of the toughest in Ontario and are ready to fight for you.

Our firm has represented hundreds of individuals and businesses across Ontario and is well respected by judges and lawyers alike.

In fact, Powell Litigation was voted the Best Law Firm in the Toronto Star Readers’ Choice Awards.

We also have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and over 40 Five-Star Reviews on Google. To speak with a top small claims court lawyer today, call us at (437) 222-2234.

Client Testimonials

See what our previous clients have to say about their experience with us:

You deliver 100% on everything that you promise.

“Hi Weston, I would like to tell you how pleased I am with the way you handled my legal matter. My experience with your firm is that you deliver 100% on everything that you promise. To describe my experience with Powell Litigation, the words that come to mind are: honesty, integrity, knowledge, and r...

George Carr

Fantastic work by Mr. Powell and his team.

“Fantastic work by Mr. Powell and his team. Referred them a litigation matter and they were able to get great results in a short window of time. They provide undivided attention to your matter.”

Khesrau Ahmadi

Mr. Powell’s communication and responsiveness were beyond my expectations.

“I contacted Powell Litigation for some legal assistance concerning my business and immediately felt very comfortable and knew I was in the right place. Mr. Powell’s communication and responsiveness were beyond my expectations throughout the process; he was clear, intelligent and honest with a real ...

J.O

If you are seeking for a professional legal advise, this is the place to go.

“I had a consultation with Weston Powell last week regarding a contact dispute. At first, I was hesitant whether it would be helpful as I assumed that the law company will try to get me into a litigation. Weston proved me wrong. I received all the answers I needed to move with the matter. We had a p...

Marianna Nowaczynski

Fantastic work by Mr. Powell and his team.

“Fantastic work by Mr. Powell and his team. Referred them a litigation matter and they were able to get great results in a short window of time. They provide undivided attention to your matter.”

Khesrau Ahmadi

Weston makes the process easy for our clients and is a truly fantastic lawyer.

“Powell Litigation has been a fantastic asset for our clients. As the Director of Cancel It inc, we specialize in helping vulnerable home owners to cancel their misleading and or otherwise Fraudulent HVAC contracts. Over the last year and a half Weston and Powell litigation have been our law firm of...

Jordan Redlin

I would strongly recommend this firm.

“My husband and I met with Weston today for a consultation. He was an attentive listener and didn’t rush us. He explained our options and even though we went a bit overtime, he made us feel like he actually cared about helping us, rather than just collecting his fee for service. There was no pressur...

Emily Pearce

See all of our client testimonials here.

If You Are Tired of Injustice, You Have Come to the Right Place

You know the injustice we’re talking about. Someone has wronged you. It could be in any number of ways. Maybe they owe you money. Maybe they’ve told lies about you and hurt your reputation. Maybe they didn’t keep their promise to you and left you high and dry. You can just picture their smug face asking, “What are you going to do about it?”

Well, you can start by getting all the advice you need to make an informed decision. In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, we are offering safe and easy consultations by way of telephone or video conference. Yes, you read that right. You can speak with a small claims court lawyer and have all of your questions answered from the safety, comfort, and convenience of your own home.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of people who need the help of a small claims court lawyer at the moment. Our office has been flooded with calls and we will not be able to extend this offer for very long. To have a simple and easy consultation with a small claims court lawyer, call us right now at (437) 222-2234.

What can you expect during your consultation? Well, our lawyers are some of the most sought after legal talent in Ontario, so we have to start every consultation with a conflict check. We need to make sure that your adversary hasn’t already reached out to us. If they have, we will have to promptly end the call.

Once we’ve run the conflict check, we’ll listen intently to your story, answer all of your questions, and then give you strategic legal advice tailored to your specific situation. We will treat you the same way we would treat our families if they got in legal trouble: with straightforward, no-nonsense advice given in the simplest terms possible. Call us right now for your simple and easy consultation at (437) 222-2234.

At Last A Law Firm With the Expertise You Need at a Price You Can Afford

Do you want to know a secret about why large law firms in Toronto are so outrageously expensive? Well, for starters, they have massive overhead. Their offices are in the financial district which has the highest commercial rents in the entire province. Do you benefit at all from them having those really nice offices? Nope. Not at all. Lawyers argue their cases at court, not at their offices, so it doesn’t matter whether their offices are in overpriced steel and glass towers downtown or in a nice professional building in North York like us.

We are a young legal team, yet we have more courtroom experience than most lawyers who have been practising for decades. At the end of the day, what matters is the experience and skill that your lawyer brings to the table. What you really need is a lawyer who is as comfortable in the courtroom as they are in their own living room. The only way to get that level of comfort is by going to court. A lot. And that is exactly what you can expect from your Toronto civil litigation lawyer at Powell Litigation.

You’ll be shocked by this. At a recent trial, I was facing off against a lawyer who has literally been practising law since I was born. He did a fine job (although we ended up winning the trial and getting $170,117.84 for our client. You can read the decision here). What was shocking was that this lawyer confided in me that, after decades of practising law, this was his very first trial! Can you imagine that?

To get a lawyer with the courtroom experience you need to win your case, call us today at (437) 222-2234.