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
A new cost-benefit analysis for admission of expert reports introduced by the Supreme Court of Canada expands the gatekeeping role of judges in Canada (White Burgess Langille Inman v. Abbott and Haliburton Co., 2015 SCC 23). This development will change the landscape of expert evidence in personal injury lawsuits, especially when it comes to the hired guns such as…
This ICBC claimant was involved in a motor vehicle accident while driving a vehicle which was insured by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC. The claimant reported the accident to ICBC without a lawyer and in so doing made a number of statements regarding the circumstances of the collision. ICBC refused to pay the claimant for his vehicle, alleging the…
In this offer to settle slip and fall case the court used its discretion and allowed a claimant that was found 50 % at fault to recover 65% of her costs. The claimant was also awarded double costs after the insurance comany refused to accept a reasonable offer of settlement almost a month before trial…
This unrepresented ICBC injury claimant was awarded $1,500 for two car accident injuries but was required to pay $19,00.00 in legal costs to the other side ( 2015 BCSC 940) after refusing to accept an ICBC offer of $40,000. There were serious credibility and evidence issues in the personal injury case. The amount awarded does not…
This Court of Appeal personal injury case has only affirmed, and not changed, the law surrounding loss of capacity claims, including loss of renovation, landscaping , house-cleaning, and housekeeping Capacity ( Reynolds v. M. Sanghera & Sons Trucking Ltd.,2015 BCCA 232). We focus on loss of landscaping capacity as well as loss of renovation capacity claims in motor…
Assessing fault after a car accident involves applying the common law duties of care. This personal injury lawsuit concerned the determination of liability for injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Fraser Street and East 12th Avenue in Vancouver (Boyd v. Baldwin,2015 BCSC 887).The claimant was a front seat passenger in a vehicle…
when negligent driving puts another person in peril, rescuers are given special treatment and are allowed to claim damages for injuries resulting from the rescue. However, the claimant in this personal injury appeal case was not able to prove that there was a true peril and therefore was not considered a rescuer ( Ray v.…
After a car accident this ICBC injury Claimant carried on with her day, much as she would have without the accident and only started experiencing symptoms on the following day (Gill v. Bhuller,2015 BCSC 851) . The other driver admitted their fault for the accident and for her injuries from a motor vehicle accident. In the collision…
There were two offers to settle made by the claimant in this case: one in the amount of $800,000 before trial and the other during the course of trial, in the amount of $1,010,000. The defendant offered to settle for $55,000.00. At trial the claimant was found 50% at fault for a car accident and…
In this hit and run personal injury case ICBC disputed that the claimant had made all reasonable efforts to find the fleeing driver, as is legally required in British Columbia. The Supreme Court however found that the claimant acted reasonably and was permitted to rely on the actions taken by an agent or agents in order…