The Guide Concerning e-Delivery of Documents in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Effective July 1, 2014

This Guide applies to the e-Delivery of documents in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, effective July 1, 2014. It supersedes the previous Guidelines concerning the Commercial List e-Delivery Pilot Project issued in June 2012, which is hereby revoked.

Counsel and parties are advised to refer to the relevant Parts of the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction, the Consolidated Practice Direction for Divisional Court Proceedings as well as any other relevant Toronto region-specific Practice Directions and Guides which are available on the Superior Court of Justice website at: www.ontariocourts.ca/scj.

Introduction

Often judges sitting on the Commercial List ask counsel to provide them with an electronic copy of the materials filed for a hearing. Experience has shown that significant differences exist amongst the formats used by counsel when preparing electronic copies. As a result, the usefulness to the judge of electronic copies varies from case to case – some formats do not permit a judge to cut and paste text; some formats do not organize the scanned file by document, making quick reference to an item difficult; and, some formats are not searchable.

For electronic copies of documents to be useful to judges they must: (i) be well organized and searchable so that judges can locate quickly specific pieces of evidence or argument; (ii) enable a judge to cut and paste argument or evidence; and, (iii) enable the portability of all hearing materials.

In order to meet these needs a working group of the Commercial List Users Committee has prepared this Guide. The purpose is simple: when a judge asks counsel to submit electronic documents of filed materials, counsel now will be able to follow a uniform approach to preparing electronic copies thereby enhancing their usefulness to judges.

This Guide contemplate that in most cases counsel will deliver electronic copies of documents to the judge via a USB key, with factums in Word format and the remaining hearing materials placed in an organized PDF file.  Guidelines for emailing documents to judges are also included.

Three key points should be made about the scope of this Guide:

This Guide is organized into four parts:

Part I: A Sample Checklist which judges may use when discussing with counsel the requirements for electronic copies of documents in any specific case;

Part II: A Description of the Basic Steps involved in preparing electronic copies of documents for filing with a judge;

Part III: An Outline of the Technical Specifications for electronic copies of documents, including Hardware and Software Requirements. The procedures set out in this Guide seek to use hardware and software which is readily accessible to all counsel at a reasonable cost. This section describes readily available software and hardware options; and,

Part IV: Detailed Instructions on How to Create simple and complex PDF documents.

Although the product of consultation with both the Bench and the Bar, no doubt areas of improvement will emerge as greater use is made of this Guide.  The Commercial List Users Committee intends to monitor the use of the “e-Delivery” of documents and make improvements to this Guide based on the experience of the Commercial List.

Part I: Sample Checklist for the Use of Commercial List Judges

Please note: a word version of the Sample Checklist is also available on the Superior Court’s website at: www.ontariocourts.ca/scj.

Judge:                   Court File No.:
Title of Proceedings: Hearing Date:
No.	Description	Yes   /   No
1.	Submit electronic copy of facta in Word format?	Yes    No
2.	Submit PDF copy of facta and application/motion record? (select # 3 Simple Format or # 5 Complex Format)	Yes    No
3.	Simple format:  Create bookmarks within PDF (refer to “Guidelines” document)	Yes    No
4.	Make PDF OCR text searchable?	Yes    No
5.	Complex format: Create hyperlinks & bookmarks within PDF (refer to “Guidelines” document)	Yes    No
6.	Send paper copy to Judge? (use additional area below for specifics)	Yes    No
7.	File with the Commercial List Office via USB key or CD Rom?	Yes    No
8.	Receipt of hyperlinked PDF within 1-5 business days (based on number of pages, number of potential links and available resources)	Yes    No
9.	Send electronic copy of documents to all parties	Yes    No
NOTE: CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS SHOULD NOT BE FILED ELECTRONICALLY

Parties	Names, Contact Information & File Naming Instructions
Plaintiff/ Applicant
Defendant/Respondent
Third Party
Intervener

Additional Instructions: ______________________________________________________

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Part II: The Basic Steps in Preparing and Filing Electronic Copies of Court Documents with a Judge

A. Preparation of Electronic Word File Copy

1. Document(s) is created and finalized in word processing software. Microsoft Word (.DOC) is the standard format.
2. Create front and back covers, indices and schedules in Microsoft Word format.
3. One copy of the official court document(s), along with all attachments, is to be printed and filed as the official court copy.
4. One copy of factum is to be sent in Word format, as well as one copy in PDF format (if requested by the judge).

B. Preparation of Electronic PDF Copy

5. Convert or scan Word document to PDF format. Conversion is preferable.
6. Convert or scan front and back covers, indices, schedules, etc., and combine with PDF.
7. Combined PDF should contain identical content and should appear the same as the official paper copy filed with the court. The PDF copy should conform to the same requirements in the Rules of Civil Procedure as the paper copy.
8. Scanned or converted documents are to be provided as black and white documents unless there is a relevant reason to include content in colour.
9. Image quality of scanned or converted documents is to be 200 – 300 dpi.
10. Update page numbering in the PDF file to reflect actual page numbers based on paper copy (see Part III: Outline of Technical Specifications).
11. Name PDF file based on pre-defined nomenclature (see Part III: Outline of Technical Specifications).
12. Perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR) within PDF to enable text searching.
13. Create bookmarks and hyperlinks within PDF to link to page references within attachments (if requested).
14. Do not apply any security settings or modification to the file properties of the PDF that may prevent the court from opening, viewing, saving, printing or searching the document.
15. Confirm the size of the Word document and / or PDF document in the properties of the file.
16. Deliver a copy of PDF document to all other parties.

C. Transcripts

17. Electronic copies of transcripts may be filed in PDF and DOC formats as long as the copies are searchable.

D. Sending the electronic copies to the judge

18. It is anticipated that in most circumstances judges will ask counsel to provide them with electronic copies of documents on a USB key or CD ROM.  Where such a request is made by the judge, counsel should deliver the materials to the judge through the Commercial List Office.  The USB key or CD ROM should be accompanied by a covering letter which identifies the materials contained on the USB key or CD ROM.

19. In cases where the judge has requested counsel to deliver the electronic copies by email, the cover email should include the title of proceedings, Court File #, Counsel Name(s), Party Name and type of filing. A list of the email attachments is to be included in the body of the email.  See the example below.
20. PLEASE NOTE: A judge’s email system cannot accept emails containing attachments of more than 6 Mb in size.

Part III: Outline of Technical Specifications

A. General Information on .PDF and .DOC file sizes

21. An approximation of the number of paper pages contained in a unit of PDF

Data size	Approximate Pages
1 Mb PDF	20 pages
2 Mb PDF	40 pages
5 Mb PDF	100 pages
10 Mb PDF	200 pages
100 Mb PDF	2,000 pages (3/4 – full bankers box, single sided)
1024 Mb or 1 Gig	20,480 pages (8-12 bankers boxes, single sided)
2048 Mb or 2 Gigs	40,960 pages (16-24 bankers boxes, single sided)

Note 1: Bookmarks and a table of contents somewhat affect the size of a PDF file.  Hyperlinks can drastically increase the size of a PDF file. Approximate pages in Word documents versus file sizes

Data size	Approximate Pages
1 Mb .DOC	60 pages
2 Mb DOC	120 pages
5 Mb DOC	300 pages
10 Mb DOC	600 pages
100 Mb DOC	6,000 pages (2-3 full bankers boxes, single sided)
1024 Mb or 1 Gig	61,440 pages (24-30 bankers boxes, single sided)

Note 2: It is not typical to have Word files that exceed 10 or 20 Mb in size if the file contains text only.

Note 3: Image or graphic files can drastically increase the size of a Word document.

B. Naming electronic files

22. Parties must confer as soon as practicable to assign nomenclature to be used consistently to identify each document.  The following nomenclature should be used as the general default:

Application Record

23. APAR – Application Record of the Applicant
    APRR – Application Record of the Respondent
    APINR – Application Record of the Intervener

Motion Record

24. MPL – Motion Record of the Plaintiff
    MDE – Motion Record of the Defendant
    MTP – Motion Record of the Third Party
    MAP – Motion Record of the Applicant
    MRP – Motion Record of the Respondent
    MIN – Motion Record of the Intervener

Affidavits

25. AFPL – Affidavit of or on behalf of the Plaintiff
    AFDE – Affidavit of or on behalf of the Defendant
    AFTP – Affidavit of or on behalf of the Third Party
    AFAP – Affidavit of or on behalf of the Applicant
    AFRP – Affidavit of or on behalf of the Respondent
    AFIN – Affidavit of or on behalf of the Intervener

Book of Authorities

26. BAPL – Book of Authorities of the Plaintiff
    BADE – Book of Authorities of the Defendant
    BATP – Book of Authorities of the Third Party
    BAAP – Book of Authorities of the Applicant
    BARP – Book of Authorities of the Respondent
    BAIN – Book of Authorities of the Intervener

Factums, including Amended and Supplementary

27. FPL – Factum of the Plaintiff
    FDE – Factum of the Defendant
    FTP – Factum of the Third Party
    FAP – Factum of the Applicant
    FRP – Factum of the Respondent
    FIN – Factum of the Intervener

Note 4: suffix AM or SUP to indicate Amended or Supplemental Factum

Costs Outline

28. COPL – Cost Outline of the Plaintiff
    CODE – Cost Outline of the Defendant
    COTP – Cost Outline of the Third Party
    COAP – Cost Outline of the Applicant
    CORP – Cost Outline of the Respondent

Note 5: when there are multiple documents of the same type filed, suffix the file name with 001, 002, 003, 004, 005, etc.

C. Page numbering in PDF files for Facta

Title page has no page number

Index page numbers set using Roman numerals; e.g. i, ii, iii, iv, etc.

Factum pages set to use actual “hard copy” page numbers. Set pages in body of Factum to be numbered consecutively; e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc.

Note 6: Further instruction on how to re-number pages in Adobe Acrobat can be found by searching the “Help” menu in Adobe Acrobat Writer.

D. Bookmarks in PDF files

29. Use Adobe Acrobat Writer or other PDF software to combine documents into one PDF file or scan the contents of the document to be filed.
30. Create bookmarks by selecting text and right clicking on text or by selecting “Add Bookmark” from the menu bar.  Please note that different software and different versions of Adobe store the “Add Bookmark” function in different areas of the menu.  Consult the “Help” menu for your software for more specific information.
31. The PDF document must be OCR searchable in order to highlight text.  In Adobe Acrobat, highlight the heading of text in the document as it appears in the Index, right click and select “Add Bookmark” to automatically add the highlighted text to the bookmark. The bookmark function in Adobe Acrobat version X is located in the “Content” menu:
32. Each bookmark created should jump to the corresponding page of the PDF based on the Index included.
33. In the “Document Properties” of the PDF, set the “Initial View” to show the Bookmarks panel and pages.  Set the “Magnification” to “Fit to Page”
34. Where possible (and if requested) create a hyperlink to other documents contained in the PDF such as Authorities, Transcripts, Affidavits, etc.
35. Hyperlinks should only be created to documents that exist within the PDF document. Consult the “Help” menu for your software for more specific information.

E. Hardware and Software Required

Software / Hardware	Options
Computer or Laptop	Minimum requirements will be included with software purchases however at this time, common minimum requirements include: 1.3 GHz or faster processor , 512 MB RAM; 1 GB of available hard drive space; Windows XP or above; CD / DVD writer and USB capability; CD / DVD (for delivery) USB Key (for delivery)
Scanner	Scanner with automatic document feeder is preferable (ADF)
Word Processing software	Microsoft Word or Corel Word Perfect
PDF Software	Software should have capability to OCR, combine PDFs, create bookmarks, and create hyperlinks.Free Conversion Software: Microsoft Office 2007 and later allows for the ability to save documents in the PDF format with an Office 2007 add-in available free on the Microsoft website. Word Perfect (version 9 and later) saves to PDF format. OpenOffice is a free & open tool similar to Microsoft Office. The Word processing tool converts to PDF (MAC compatible). www.download.openoffice.org. Primo PDF is a free tool that you install that creates a PDF print queue that actually converts documents. www.primopdf.com/index.aspx Other cost efficient software options: Adobe Acrobat Standard X is one of the most commonly used PDF conversions, viewing and writing software. (Recommended). www.adobe.com/products/acrobatstandard.html. Nuance PDF Converter Pro 7 is another commonly used PDF conversion, view and writing software www.nuance.com/products/pdf-converter-professional7/index.htm.
Scanning Software	Scanning software should be bundled with the scanner at time of installation. Consult the manual or other documentation provided with your scanner
Email application	Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes or other email program
Internet connection	High speed internet access preferable
Useful Resource Links	PDF help: www.pdfforlawyers.com. Consult the Help menu of your PDF software

Note:  The availability of the software or hardware referred to in the above table may vary from time to time.

F. Additional/ Optional Software

36. Meta-data cleaner to scrub Word documents and PDF documents of meta-data.  A no cost option for scrubbing Word documents could be to copy the contents of a document into a new “clean” document (ensure pagination is the same).  Alternately, print and scan your document to PDF.
37. Most Meta-data in PDF documents can be removed from the properties menu of the PDF or by using a compatible PDF meta-data cleaner.
38. Do not compress files using ZIP or any other file compression format.  Files should not be compressed for delivery by any method.

G. Software Options Matrix *

Function / Feature	Nuance PDF Converter Pro 7	Adobe Acrobat X Standard	Adobe Acrobat Reader	Foxit Reader
View, Search & Print PDF File	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Preserves Hyperlink, Bookmarks & Comments	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Document Review: Comments, Annotations, highlights (use arrows, sticky notes)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Modify text using “typewriter”	Yes	Yes	No	No
Export Comments or Notes in Summary	Yes	Yes	No	No
Text Search (if OCR text exists)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Digital Signature	Yes	Yes	No	No
Encryption / Security Settings	Yes	Yes	No	No
Convert from Word	Yes	Yes	No	No
Combine PDFs	Yes	Yes	No	No
OCR Capabilities	Yes	Yes	No	No
Bookmarking	Yes	Yes	No	No
Hyperlinking	Yes	Yes	No	No
Ability to support scanning	Yes	Yes	No	No
Mac Compatible Version	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PRICING	$99.99	$199.00	FREE	FREE

*This Matrix is not exhaustive. Further, the software programs and pricing are not current. They reflect pricing in effect in 2012. Users are advised to check for updated programs and pricing.

Part IV: How to Create Simple and Complex PDF Documents

39. There are two ways to create PDF documents.  PDF documents can be created by converting a text document into PDF format using software such as Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Distiller, Nuance, PDF Maker, or scanning documents from paper in PDF.

A. Converting a text file to a PDF file

40. Converting text files into PDF format is the preferred method for two reasons: text conversion creates a more searchable document than scanning from paper and text conversion creates a smaller file size then scanned or imaged documents.  Always convert the final version of documents to PDF format to ensure the PDF copy is the same in content and pagination as the court filed paper copy.

B. Creating a PDF file from a scanned document

41. For documents that must be scanned because a text version does not exist, documents should be scanned directly into PDF format using available software in conjunction with the scanner. Scanning documents into image format will require OCR to be run against the documents making the PDF searchable.

C. How to Combine PDFs

42. If there are multiple PDF documents to be combined into one file, this must be done before Bookmarks can be created.  Depending on the software used, bookmarks may be automatically created at the time of combining or merging PDF files.  PDF “Creator” or “Writer” is required to merge PDF files.

D. How to Create Bookmarks

43. Bookmarks appear on the left side of a PDF document. To view bookmarks, choose Bookmarks or show Bookmarks from the View menu of your Adobe Acrobat software (the location of this menu will depend on the version of Adobe Acrobat or other software being used).  Use the Table of Contents as a guideline for creating bookmarks.

E. How to Rename or Delete Bookmarks

44. If bookmarks need to be renamed to match the table of contents, follow the below steps.

F. How to Create Hyperlinks

45. Hyperlinks appear throughout a PDF.  In a factum hyperlinks can be made to documentary evidence, oral evidence, authorities, exhibits and affidavits, etc.

G. How to Update Page Numbering

46. Title page and back page have no page number.
47. Index page numbers set using Roman numerals; e.g., i, ii, iii, iv, etc.
48. Factum pages set to use actual “hard copy” page numbers.  Set pages in body of Factum to be numbered consecutively; e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc.
49. Update page numbering via page numbering section of the PDF software. Page numbers can be manually assigned to match the paper copy.
50. Further instruction on how to re-number pages in Adobe Acrobat or other PDF software can be found by searching the “Help” menu of the software.

H. Questions/ Answers and FAQ

51. What is 200 or 300 dpi and why is this important?

The quality of a scanned document largely depends on the condition of the paper document itself.  If the document is older (created before 1995) or the quality of the paper is poor, the quality of the image may also be poor.  If the scanning software is set to a resolution of 200 or 300 dpi, the best possible quality of image will be created, while keeping the file size to a minimum.  Resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi).  A higher resolution is slower to scan (this is also dependent on the scanner and the number of pages that are scanned). The recommended resolution is 200 or 300 dpi.

52. What is OCR?

OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition.  OCR is a technology that once run against PDF files makes the files searchable and editable. OCR quality is not always 100% accurate. Accuracy of OCR text depends largely on the quality of the paper being scanned and the scanning resolution used.

53. What is PDF?

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It is a universal file format that preserves the fonts, images, graphics, and layout of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it.

54. What is USB?

USB stands for Universal Serial Bus.  USB is a hardware format used to store and transfer files.

55. How do I know what the size is of my PDF file?

Right click on the PDF file and check the properties tab to determine the size of the PDF file.

56. How should the PDF be named?

Follow the guidelines provided in the naming convention list and those provided on the initial meeting checklist.