In Brown v. Lloyd’s of London Insurance Market, 2015 ONCA 235, the Court of Appeal for Ontario summarily dismissed an appeal on its own motion, pursuant to rule 2.1. Rule 2.1 has been in force since July 1, 2014, and is intended to put an end to civil actions that are, on the face of the statement of claim, so obviously without merit that no argument apart from counsel’s letter of request is required. Gilbertson Davis’ Lee Akazaki was counsel for one of the successful defendants / respondents. This appears to be the first time the rule has been invoked to dismiss a civil appeal. The practice has proven very economical, as the necessity for expensive, labour-intensive motions to strike statements of claim, has been eliminated in instances where actions are clearly without merit.
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