In a stunning blow to victims of personal injury the court has upheld a decision to pay only $20.00 to compensate a winning claimant for the non-expert testimony of a family physician. Unfortunately this will mean treating healthcare providers will now be subpoenaed to testify without payment for their preparation and attendance. (Luis v.…
The legal, ethical and moral issues arising from the advent of the driverless car are profound. Highly automated vehicles, HAVs, will shift the burden of safely operating a vehicle from human to machine. In the long run this will release us from some legal obligations but in the short term could lead to havoc on…
In this multiple car accident personal injury case the claimant was rear-ended twice and developed a chronic soft tissue pain condition. He sought an award of over $1 million and ICBC, the defendant insurer, was only prepared to pay $143,000. The insurer argued unsuccessfully that the claimant should be forced to attend active rehabilitation and his claim…
It can be difficult to know how much to pay for legal services if you have little or no experience hiring a lawyer after a personal injury. The years of legal training and experience help to determine the lawyer’s best hourly and percentage fee. Here are a few case examples to help understand what is reasonable…
The injury claimant suffered a spinal cord injury and a traumatic brain injury when a train owned by the Canadian National Railway, CNR, struck her car as she crossed the railway tracks on Smith Crescent close to Glover Road in Langley, BC. The judge found CNR failed to maintain adequate sightlines at the Crossing by allowing an overgrowth of…
This appeal by ICBC from a $1 million personal injury award reiterates the old adage that a judge is entitled to accept all, some or none of a witness’ evidence. A judge is not obliged to identify and discuss every piece of evidence related to factual deliberations in reasons for judgment; nor are they required to…
Valuing psychiatric injury and proving post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD, is an evidentiary challenge. This PTSD injury claim reviews several cases in which PTSD was established. This case involved a 55 year old truck driver injured in a motor vehicle accident on Highway 1 near Chilliwack, BC. Having found the other driver 100% at fault the court…
Sometimes it is obvious in a car accident case when a jury does not like a litigant. Although after 22 days of trial, the jury found the City of Surrey negligent for failing to adequately maintain the snowy roadway, they found the claimant 75% contributorily negligent. The jury also reduced her award by a further 75% on a…
In this car accident injury case, a 28-year-old dental assistant, injured her neck, left shoulder, and mid‑back developing myofascial pain syndrome and thoracic outlet syndrome, TOS. Of particular interest was the award of $135,000 for pain and suffering and the $60,000 in-trust award for the increase in household chores for the spouse husband.(MacLeod v. Whittemore, 2018 BCSC…
This ICBC offer to settle case raises two important issues: (1) What ICBC accident benefits should be deducted from the award against the driver; and (2) Should a claimant be denied costs for not accepting an ICBC offer which is the same as the court award. This ICBC personal injury case involved two car accidents. First…