In Alberta, Canada, Small Claims Court: I, the plaintiff in a wrongful termination action, have properly filed and served the claim. The Defendant has replied by delivering an unsigned Dispute Note to the court office where it was received and time/date stamped within the allotted period. A copy of the same unsigned Dispute Note was delivered to me by registered mail and I acknowledged receipt (i.e. I signed for the envelope).

The questions:

1. Do I have grounds to claim that I have not received a valid Dispute Note? If so, may I request a default judgement?

2. If I get a default judgement is there reason to expect that the Defendant would be successful in an Application to Vacate the Default Judgement?

3. Does anyone have any specific experience with this type of problem or know of case law that I can reference?

For those who may be interested, the Court Clerk has informed me that once they have accepted and registered a Dispute Note its validity can only be argued in mediation or at trial. In Alberta non-binding arbitration can be mandated at the direction of the presiding Judge. Our Judge has ordered mediation, so that will be our next step. If mediation fails we will proceed to trial at a later date. AAJINQUIRE

This Query should now be considered CLOSED for comment... thanks.