How long do lawyers have to make their case before a Supreme Court judge interrupts them?

In late 2023, preparing for a hearing at the Supreme Court of Canada, lawyer Jeremy Opolsky wondered how much time he would have before the judges launched their fusillade of questions.

The general answer, he knew, was not much time at all – and, indeed, in the courtroom on a corporate bankruptcy case, Mr. Opolsky had spoken for 72 seconds when Justice Suzanne Côté interjected with a query.