Counsel Forum Minutes of Meeting - May 30, 2003

Approval of Minutes

• The minutes of the meeting held March 28, 2003, were approved.

Automobile Insurance Reform Update

• Margaret Orlander spoke briefly on this issue.
  
  
• There are various regulations currently before the government.
  
  
• These regulations are waiting for cabinet approval.
  
  
• The regulations will likely come into force approximately three or four months after receiving cabinet approval.

Mediation

• There has been a very large increase in the number of mediation applications filed between April, 2002, and April, 2003, over the corresponding previous year.
  
  
• There has been an increase of approximately 3,150 applications.
  
  
• There is no clear reason or explanation for this large increase.
  
  
• There are presently 35 Mediators in the mediation unit and the government is presently recruiting for several more.
  
  
• One of the members asked whether or not the government is considering changing the fee structure charged by insurance companies when an injured person files for mediation.
  
  
• At present the insurer is levied a fee of $500 for each application for mediation filed.
  
  
• Apparently the government is discussing the possibility of reverting to the previous mediation fee system where each insurance company is charged an annual block fee based on their market share.

Arbitration

• The number of arbitration applications are up slightly over the previous year, but not nearly as much as applications for mediation.
  
  
• The speed of releasing arbitration decisions continues to improve.
  
  
• During the first quarter of 2003 87% of arbitration decisions were issued within 85 days of the end of the hearing.
  
  
• The arbitration unit conducted a random examination of what type of issues seem to be most popular in arbitration.
  
  
• A growing number of applications seem to involve claims for housekeeping benefits.

Appeals

• There are still some very old appeal decisions in the system.
  
  
• There are six decisions that are older than 151 days.
  
  
• The appeals unit is working to eliminate this backlog.
  
  
• The appeals unit averages 45-50 new appeals each year.
  
  
• This number has been fairly constant for the last few years.

Judicial Review

• There was only one judicial review decision to comment on.
  
  
• The "Harris" judicial review was dismissed on consent.

Operational Update

• There was a brief discussion about "fillable forms".
  
  
• At present they will be available only for mediation applications.
  
  
• A one-day test was done at the beginning of April, 2003.
  
  
• A few glitches in the forms were discovered following this test.
  
  
• They are being fixed and hopefully the fillable forms will be ready to go on-line shortly.
  
  
• With respect to e-filing, work continues on this project.
  
  
• Hopefully e-filing will be ready to go at the end of 2003 or at the beginning of 2004.

Outreach Program

• FSCO is planning a half-day event at the beginning of October, 2003 to be held in Kingston, Ontario.
  
  
• FSCO is working on this project with the Kingston Law Association.
  
  
• Another program is being planned for November, 2003 in Hamilton, Ontario and another program is being planned for early 2004 in Windsor, Ontario.

Next Meeting

• The next meeting of counsel forum will take place on Friday, September 26, 2003.