July 4th and 5th reserved for oral submissions by legal teams as Ottawa Taxi trial continues
Ottawa Court House Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Decision possible autumn 2023 or winter 2024
Taxi News has received numerous questions on the status of the Ottawa Taxi trial, which completed the liability portion of the Class Action proceedings in late February. All witnesses have now testified and have been cross-examined, but the trial is not yet over.
Following is the outline of what to expect next, and when, as provided by Conway Litigation, legal counsel for the plaintiffs Metro Taxi Ltd. and Ishkak Mail.
Following the completion of witness testimonies, parties will give Justice Smith written submissions over the course of the spring. This part of the trial will be completed by June 3.
July 4th and 5th have been reserved for oral submissions. The expectation is that a decision from the judge on the liability issue will come in the late fall 2023 or winter of 2024.
Following that decision, there will evidence and argument over damages in front of Judge Smith.
If the City is found liable, the judgement could be as much as $215,000,000, plus pre-and post-judgment interest, plus costs.
Conway believes that this dollar figure is an accurate reflection of the losses suffered by taxicab owners and brokers through the devaluation of the plate value and loss of income to brokers.
A possible alternative to this judgement could be an out-of-court settlement involving the creation of a compensation regime under which active rideshare drivers and active taxicab drivers pay a nominal fee per ride that goes toward compensating the MS1 class members.
