8. Both sides exchange expert reports. In B.C., the parties must provide each other with notice of the expert opinions they will be relying upon 60 days before trial. If the case is to be settled out of court, it will usually be only after this exchange of expert reports has taken place.

9. The trial. While cases are sometimes settled, cases of this kind frequently go to trial and the case must be prepared throughout on the assumption that a trial will be necessary. In British Columbia, these cases are frequently tried by a judge alone, rather than by a jury.

10. Following a decision at trial, the losing side may appeal to an appellate court. In British Columbia the appellate court is called the British Columbia Court of Appeal. From there, a case can be further appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, but that court can decide whether or not it will hear a case and it is a rare case that goes that far.

During the evaluation and litigation process there are many points along the way when it is necessary to consider whether the case still appears to have merit. The most important question is usually whether we can find the appropriate experts to say that there was a breach of standard and that it caused the injury. Judges will not decide medical questions without evidence from people who are properly qualified in the field.

Here's what happens as your case is prepared and submitted for trial.

The work of preparing a case for trial is extensive and time consuming. It also places certain responsibilities on you. These are the major steps in taking your case to court, both before and after trial:

1. We file the appropriate documents in court to start the litigation.

2. The other side files response documents.

3. A trial date is established. It takes several months or longer to get a date from the court registry and when the date is given it may be up to two years in the future. This sets the period in which pre-trial procedures must be completed and gives everyone a deadline to work to. This is the B.C. procedure. In some other provinces, the trial date can only be obtained after all pre-trial procedures are completed.

4. We gather and review all of the relevant medical records, including records of doctors who have treated the client for the injury, and in some circumstances, records that predated the injury.

5. Each side discloses relevant documents in their possession.

6. Both sides conduct examinations for discovery. The client is questioned under oath by the lawyers for the doctors and/or hospital being sued. This produces a transcript that can later be used at trial if, for example, evidence is given at trial that is inconsistent with what was said at the examination for discovery. We conduct, usually at a different time, similar examinations of the defendants. Frequently, it is only after these examinations that we have enough information to seek a final opinion from medical experts as to whether the proper standard of care was followed.

7. We gather expert evidence on your injuries. Expert evidence may include the opinions of doctors and other professionals on how you should have been treated and on your condition. Experts may also be used to determine your loss of future earnings and opportunities, the cost of future care for you, and the change in your life expectancy. You will probably have to see a number of these experts, some of them will retained by us and others will be retained by the defendants.