Estate Planning

Trial Binder, Endorsements/Orders Record & Compendium of Documents - How to Kill Three Birds with One Stone

By Hull & Hull LLP

As mentioned in Craig Vander Zee's recent blog on Contested Passing of Accounts, preparedness is the hallmark of success in an estates practice. Responding at a moment's notice with facts, documents and other relevant evidence from your trial binder will show well not only for your client's case but for you as well. Impressions on the judiciary are long-lasting. Providing well-organized, helpful information will endear you to any judge faced with the need to sort out a myriad of facts, issues, law and parties in order to dispense proportionate amounts of justice. 

The new Practice Direction Concerning the Estates List of the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto  that came into effect on April 1, 2009 encourages all efforts that assist the court to do its job expeditiously and well. Where there are multiple appearances and/or complex or voluminous proceedings, a Compendium of Documents containing key materials such as extracts of documents, transcripts, previous orders and authorities must be prepared. Highlight relevant portions and consult on a joint Compendium if you can (cooperation with the other side also wins points). Use diagrams, family trees, lists of persons, corporate org charts, chronologies and any other helpful synopses of complex or technical evidence; here is your chance to be creative. Visuals are particularly effective and providing graphic representations can cut the time required to sort out complex relationships or complicated timelines.   

The person starting a case is responsible for filing and maintaining an Endorsements/Orders Record, a red three-ring binder containing endorsements, orders and reasons for judgment. You have five days from issue to provide copies along with numbered tabs and an updated table of contents to the Estates Office.

While you are creating material for the court's use, you can make copies for your trial binder and include extra information for optimum use by you – the most organized/best counsel in the room! 

Be a trail blazer with your trial binder and you will see that it can be an effective tool to help you win friends (and cases) and influence people (and judges).

Cheers,

Sharon Davis

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on July 28, 2009 (boomark / email).