COVID-19 Updates

Greetings Thunder Bay Legal Community

As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to impact our daily lives, we are receiving numerous important communications via email. Due to the large volume of updates being received and forwarded to the legal community, the links below provide quick access to this same information. TBLA will continue updating this page and sending any additional information received directly to our members.

Notices – Thunder Bay Courthouse

• Superior Court of Justice – all Notices & Orders
  • Notice to the Profession re: Justice Participants Unable to attend In-Court Hearings in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (July 21, 2020)
  • Notice to the Profession, Litigants, Accused, Media and Members of the Public (June 25, 2020)
  • Notice to Profession – Divisional Court (June 29, 2020)
  • Notice Regarding the Suspension of Small Claims Court Operations (August 26, 2020)
  • Northwest Region – Notice to the Profession (August 20, 2020)

• Ontario Courts of Justice – COVID-19 Notices & Updates (July 28, 2020)
  • Notice to the Profession and the Public: Update regarding Criminal Case Management Appearances (July 28, 2020)
  • Notices and info about Criminal Proceedings (August 2020)
  • COVID-19: Scheduling of Family Matters in the Ontario Court of Justice (September 18, 2020)
  • Notices and info about Family Proceedings (updated August 2020)
  • Notices and info about Provincial Offences (September 2, 2020)
• Court Services – counter service hours
• Thunder Bay Courthouse access (March 30, 2020)
  • Notice of Access (March 30, 2020)

Courts

Please refer to the individual court websites and their Twitter feeds for the latest updates on procedural changes:

• Ontario Court of Justice
  • Thunder Bay Court Services (Provincial Offences)
  • OCJ Twitter feed
• Superior Court of Justice
  • SCJ Twitter feed
• Ontario Court of Appeal
• Ontario Regulation 457/20 – Limitation Periods order will end and suspended time periods will resume running on September 14, 2020

Daily Justice Partners Conference Call

Conference calls continue to take place with several justice partners across the province (OCJ, SCJ, and Court of Appeal Courthouse senior staff, OBA, LAO, LSO, MAG, FOLA and the Advocates’ Society). A summary of the discussions can be found on the FOLA website via the link listed below :

• COVID-19 & the Practice of Law

FOLA (the Federation of Ontario Law Associations) is our representative on this call. Any issues at all that you would like to bring forward to these calls can be sent to:

• Katie Robinette, FOLA’s Executive Director, at katie.robinette@fola.ca
• Terry-Lynn Miettinen, TBLA Past President & FOLA rep, at tlm@asl-law.com
• Claudia Belda, TBLA President, at cbelda@johnslaw.ca

Law Society of Ontario Updates

The LSO is providing guidance to all lawyers and paralegals in the province. Please visit their website for updates related to COVID-19.

TBLA Library

For library research assistance, please email tbla@tbaytel.net. Helen is currently working Monday, Wednesday & Friday in the library and Tuesday, Thursday from home. She has access to legal research databases and can respond to your requests. Questions concerning association meetings/events will be answered as well.

Additional Links

• Advocate’s Society of Ontario
• City of Thunder Bay
• Criminal Lawyers Association
• Federation of Law Associations (FOLA)
• Legal Aid Ontario
• Ontario Bar Association
• Ontario Government – COVID-19 updates