Compensation for legal fees in car accident personal injury cases is slated to be further explained, clarified, and examined by the court (Lee v. Jarvie, 2013 BCCA 17). The BC Court of Appeal granted leave to appeal in this car accident award for personal injuries after the claimant was only awarded 50% of his legal costs and the defendants were awarded 50% of their legal costs, to be set off. The Court of Appeal also granted leave to appeal the trial decision denying the claimant all of his disbursements relating to two of the experts and granting the claimant only 15% of his disbursements relating to two other experts.
The wording of the new Rule is different from the old and needs to be considered by the court on the general question of whether, given the wording of Rule 14-1(15), the trial judge was wrong in apportioning and making the order as to legal fee costs that he did.
Generally, personal injury claimants that win their car accident case in the Supreme Court can expect a money award to help compensate for the cost of legal fees. The issue of the whether a claimant actually “wins the case” becomes complex when a claimant wins on some issues and loses on others. In these cases claimants may be awarded only a portion of their legal fees or all of their costs depending on the circumstances considered by the court.
Posted by Personal Injury Lawyer Mr. Renn A. Holness, B.A. LL.B.