According to the practice of the Court, case management requests in Calgary are made to me. Case management has been widely embraced by both the Bar and the Bench as a useful and valuable method of moving cases along at a reasonable pace in an increasingly complex and busy society. Our individual judicial assistants play a vital role in arranging and coordinating case management appearances and meetings between judges and counsel. Lately, the Calgary economy has taken its toll on our judicial assistants. As of today, we have a 50% vacancy rate in our staff of judicial assistants and the remaining persons are over-burdened and simply cannot cope with the demands of case management scheduling.
I am advised that Alberta Justice is seeking a full time case management officer for our Court in Calgary. In the meantime, I am regrettably notifying the profession that there will be a freeze on all current case management extant in the Calgary Court, due to staff shortages. This means that all case management activities will cease effective immediately, except in those cases where an appearance, meeting or application is already scheduled as of this date. In addition, no new case management requests will be granted until further notice.
Resumption of case management will depend on our ability to recruit and retain sufficient judicial assistants or new personnel to handle the situation. In the meantime, matters that would normally be subject to case management should proceed in regular or special chambers, if necessary. Any emergencies or requests for expedited dates should be directed to me.
Neil C. Wittmann
Associate Chief Justice
October 4, 2007
According to the practice of the Court, case management requests in Calgary are made to me. Case management has been widely embraced by both the Bar and the Bench as a useful and valuable method of moving cases along at a reasonable pace in an increasingly complex and busy society. Our individual judicial assistants play a vital role in arranging and coordinating case management appearances and meetings between judges and counsel. Lately, the Calgary economy has taken its toll on our judicial assistants. As of today, we have a 50% vacancy rate in our staff of judicial assistants and the remaining persons are over-burdened and simply cannot cope with the demands of case management scheduling.
I am advised that Alberta Justice is seeking a full time case management officer for our Court in Calgary. In the meantime, I am regrettably notifying the profession that there will be a freeze on all current case management extant in the Calgary Court, due to staff shortages. This means that all case management activities will cease effective immediately, except in those cases where an appearance, meeting or application is already scheduled as of this date. In addition, no new case management requests will be granted until further notice.
Resumption of case management will depend on our ability to recruit and retain sufficient judicial assistants or new personnel to handle the situation. In the meantime, matters that would normally be subject to case management should proceed in regular or special chambers, if necessary. Any emergencies or requests for expedited dates should be directed to me.
Neil C. Wittmann
Associate Chief Justice
October 4, 2007