Renn A. Holness is a gifted lawyer and author to over 1000 legal blog articles. Married father of two daughters, son of a neurosurgeon and founder of Holness and Small Law Group
The Calderbank offer to settle has been enshrined in our Rules of Court since 2010 and since 1975 has been the best way to legally enforce cost consequences for reasonable offers to settle. Emerging and imminent injury lawyers alike must understand and apply these principles of settlement. History of the Formal Offer Prior to…
This Christmas story involves four motor vehicle accidents all occurring within 2.5 years. In a previous accident the claimant also sustained a serious brain injury. To make it more jolly, between the third and fourth accidents in issue, he was involved in two additional accidents. (Lamb v. Fullerton, 2016 BCSC 1694) Claims were made for pain and suffering,…
The claimant delivered a formal offer to settle pursuant to Rule 9-1 of the Supreme Court Civil Rules. This was a commercial matter in BC but is relevant to personal injury claims as the same rule is applies to offers to and from ICBC. The relevant portion of the offer stated: In all of the circumstances, my client…
This injury claimant was a passenger in a single vehicle accident. The car accident occurred on Stillwater Main Road, a gravel logging road which intersects Highway 101 near Powell River, British Columbia. As the claimant’s vehicle approached the intersection, the driver lost control, the vehicle fishtailed, went up onto an embankment, launched into the air and rolled…
This injury claimant was involved in 2 car accidents. In the first she was rear-ended by a cement truck. In the second accident she was in Victoria, on her way to the airport, when the taxi she was in was struck on the side by a minivan driven.(Lauriente v. Schoonhoven,2017 BCSC 2246) The claimant worked as an emergency…
The claimant was allegedly injured in a car accident on Kingsway, approaching the intersection at Hall Avenue, in Burnaby. However in this pithy decision the Court of Appeal permitted the negligent driver to dispute that the claimant was in the vehicle at the time of the car accident despite admitting negligence (Brennan v. Colindres,2017 BCCA 413). The negligent driver testified…
Three facts about settling an ICBC injury claim: 1. full and final release of all claims means there’s no turning back, 2. no further treatment paid by ICBC after settlement and 3. two ICBC claims to settle are tort and accident benefits. The ICBC claims settlement process for personal injury is very much dependent on the…
The Attorney-General David Eby idea of a cap on the amount paid out by ICBC on minor auto injuries will be taking money from innocent victims of personal injury. This defeats the original purpose of creating an ICBC, punishing innocent victims for ICBC’s financial mismanagement. One of the hallmarks of a free and democratic society is…
Following a car accident the resulting pain can be immediate but masked by other injuries for several days. The issue then becomes whether the car accident caused the injury given the symptoms may be reported several days or weeks after the car crash. In this personal injury case the claimant was travelling northbound on Highway 22 near Castlegar,…
Having been substantially successful at trial, the claimant sought full indemnity for legal costs based upon a clause in an assignment agreement which had been entered into by the parties. The claimant was a real estate developer which arranged for the design, construction and sale of a residential project located in Burnaby, BC. An agreement…