For urgent court matters, please note that Adam is accepting urgent matters that require immediate court appearances. In order to discuss your case, please call or email him, indicating urgency. Not all matters may be considered urgent, and you are required to prove the urgency in court.
Depending on the nature of the urgency, a party can apply for short leave and have his or her matter heard in less than the required notice period, or sometimes the urgency requires an appearance without any notice to the other side. This is referred to as an ex parte application or a without notice application.
Note that on an ex parte application, there is an obligation to make full and frank disclosure of all material facts. Your lawyer must advise the court on matters that favor both sides. Failure to disclose information may result in the order granted being set aside as well as damages being awarded against you.
Examples of urgent matters may include the need for an interlocutory injunction. The court in RJR MacDonald Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), [1994] 1 S.C.R. 311, 111 D.L.R. (4th) 385. established a three-part test that the court must be satisfied with: that there is a serious question to be tried, whether the applicant would suffer irreparable harm if the application is refused, and that the balance of convenience in granting the order favors the applicant.
Other urgent matters may relate to your need to find a lawyer to represent you on an application or trial because your lawyer became unavailable, you no longer wish to be self-represented, or you were not aware of a scheduled application.
If you are counsel and wish to refer an urgent application or need coverage for a court appearance or even trial, Adam may be able to assist on a limited retainer basis.