Legal Blog

Venue – Transfer of Action

Shahbaz v. Mizrahi 2018 Ont SCJ

Motions to change venue from one judicial region to another must, under Rule 30.1.02 and the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction, be brought in writing to the Regional Senior Judge of the region to which the action is proposed to be moved. The moving party must show that it is in the interests of justice and that the proposed place of trial is not only better, but is significantly better than the plaintiff’s choice of trial. In this case, the action was moved from Hamilton to Newmarket because the events giving rise to the action occurred in York Region, the residential property at the centre of the litigation was located in York Region, the parties resided or were located in York Region as did other individuals likely to be witnesses at trial, the damages were sustained in York Region, and the only apparent reason for the commencement of the action in Hamilton was that counsel for the plaintiffs was located there.

Written by Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.