No Adjournment For Unilaterally Scheduled Trial During Defence Counsels Possible Vacation Time
Reasons for judgement were published today dismissing an adjournment application for a trial that was unilaterally set down during a time that opposing counsel kept free for a possible vacation. In part the Court noted that the vacation plans may very well be off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In today’s case (Henderson v. Fisher) the Plaintiff claimed damages for injuries sustained in a collision. The matter was set for trial on January, 2020 but this was adjourned because no judge was available. The parties could not agree on a date to reset the trial for. The Plaintiff unilaterally set the matter down for September, 2020, a month that the Defence lawyer booked off “for a personal vacation out of the country“. An application to adjourn was dismissed with the Court noting the vacation plans may very well be thwarted due to Covid19.
In dismissing the application Mr. Justice Branch provided the following reasons: