In this medical malpractice case (Chen v. Ross,2014 BCSC 374) the claimant underwent a Membrane Surgery to remove clouding and to peel scar tissue off the lining of the eye. After the surgery the claimant experienced dramatic loss of vision in the left eye, and was eventually assessed as legally blind in that eye. The loss…
The 3 year old claimant’s father was killed in a motor vehicle accident resulting in this Wrongful death award to daughter (Duncan v. Brown,2014 BCSC 153). Changes to the law now prevent ICBC and other insurance companies from avoiding a child’s claim for loss of dependency due to the existence of a step parent. The car…
As a personal injury lawyer in Vancouver since 1995 the top questions I still get asked before getting hired are about legal experience and fees. In today’s article I want to address the credentials to look for when hiring a personal injury lawyer in British Columbia. Claimants looking for the “best personal injury lawyer”, whether…
Pain and suffering after a car accident is often claimed by personal injury lawyers for clients but can the award be reduced if the claimant fails to take medical marijuana? The Supreme Court of BC said the injury claimant’s personal injury award should not be reduced for failing to take medical cannabis (Glesby v. MacMillian,2014 BCSC 334).…
In this personal injury rollerblading case(Chabot v. Chaube,2014 BCSC 300) The claimant was not obliged to remove her inline skates to cross at a marked crosswalk but, having chosen to skate across the crosswalk, she was required to take reasonable precautions for her own safety considering her speed and visibility. Rollerblading within a marked crosswalk is not…
The Court of Appeal of BC has upheld the awarding of over $400,000.00 for breach of a settlement agreement(2014 BCCA 66) despite the argument that the dispute should not have been dealt with by way of summary trial due to conflicts within the evidence. A summary trial is one that is conducted, for the most part, by…
After a car accident injury there is a big difference between a loss that “may” occur in the future and one in which there is a “real possibility”. Personal injury lawyers have long been trying to put some logic to this distinction and now the following Court of Appeal case introduces “realistic possibility” (Kim v. Morier, 2014…
The evidence of an Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, adjuster in this car accident personal injury case was rejected by the Supreme Court after she suggested the claimant had concocted her complaints of hand pain and associated numbness.(Kovac v. Moscone,2014 BCSC 259). The accident occurred when the claimant was stopped at a red light at…
The medical consensus was that the car accident victim had pre-existing degenerative changes of the lumbar spine which pre-dated the two motor vehicle accidents in question. The issue was to what extent the injury claimant may have suffered chronic low back pain despite the car accidents (Hoy v. Williams,2014 BCSC 234)The weight of medical opinion…
Yoga therapy likely mitigated further loss for this personal injury claimant as the trial judge awards life long Yoga therapy. The Court of Appeal upheld this $28,000 award for a yoga club membership as part of the cost of future care and $100,000 future wage loss award recognizing that the claimant was a high performing…