To provide a brief point form summary, below are the steps:
- Statement of Claim is issued by the plaintiff;
- Statement of Defence (and Counterclaim) is served within 30 days usually;
- The parties exchange Affidavits of Documents. The lawyers usually agree to a timetable for these to be exchanged;
- The parties conduct Examinations for Discovery on an agreed-upon date(s);
- The parties participate in a Mandatory Mediation to see if the case can be settled;
- If the case does not settle, then the plaintiff can set the case down for trial by filing a Trial Record with the court;
- The court will send out available Pre-Trial Conference dates, which is often the first time that the parties are ever before in actual judge. The judge will encourage settlement and if it does not settle, canvas any issues that need to be dealt with prior to the trial; and
- Trial.
There may be other steps above, depending on the type of case it is. There could be motions which are brought to compel a party to do something prior to trial. The vast majority of cases never get to trial.