Since 2010, Holness and Small Law Group has written over 1000 legal blog articles. We believe that staying informed and current with personal injury news and case developments is essential to providing proper legal services to our clients when advocating for their rights.
Given the similar roadways in the Lower Mainland personal injury lawyers helping injury claimants usually deal with very similar types of car accident injuries. As you get into more pedestrian congested areas bike lane and pedestrian injuries become more common and even the best personal injury lawyer will need to do the proper legal research to…
This is a car accident psychiatric condition personal injury case(De Sousa v. Bradaric and Borthwick, 2011 BCSC 1134) and the court application was about the psychiatric injuries being claimed. The defence requested of the court that the personal injury claimant be required to attend for a second psychiatric defence medcial examination. In rejecting the request the judge pointed out, “[15] In…
In this punitive damage award against an insurance company,(Sidhu v. The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company,2011 BCSC 1117), a family in Surrey, British Columbia, purchased fire insurance and their home was damaged by an accidental fire. Wawanesa refused to pay them for the loss because they alleged the claimants deliberately started the fire in order to recover the…
I have been a personal injury lawyer in Vancouver serving injury claimants all throughout British Columbia since 1995 and have been asked this question about settling ICBC claims many times. I am going to discuss some practical considerations when considering settlement of your ICBC(Insurance Corporation of BC) injury claim. 1. Does ICBC have the medical information and opinion in order…
In a stunning concession by our Supreme Court, the law apparently favours the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) having no legal obligation to inform hit and run injury victims of their legal rights(Morris v. Doe, 2011 BCSC 1053). The injury claimant was injured in a car accident at the intersection of South Fraser Way and Ware…
In this highway truck accident injury claim (Harrington v. Sangha, 2011 BCSC 1035) the at fault driver lost control of a tractor trailer he was driving north on Highway 97 at an “S” turn in the highway, near Sales Road, about 20 km south of Quesnel. He felt his truck slide across the road as the trailer…
The British Columbia trial judge in this stunning Disc Disease versus whiplash injury case (Farrant v. Laktin,2011 BCCA 336) was found to be wrong after misapprehending the threshold issue of causation as an “either/or” proposition and further erred in failing to consider whether there was a substantial connection between the accident and the injury claimant’s disabling…
In this Vancouver car crash injury claim (Olianka v. Spagnol,2011 BCSC 1013) the ICBC injury claimant was seeking compensation resulting from injuries he suffered when the car he was driving was hit from behind at the intersection of King Edward Avenue and Valley Drive in Vancouver. The other driver admited fault for the car accident and…
A City of Vancouver report released July 20, 2011 found that the total number of collisions reported to ICBC on Dunsmuir Street is down since the introduction of the bike lanes. According to the report, “The Five years 2005-2009 saw between 144 and 193 collisions per year and an average of 164 per year. During the…
In a dramatic personal injury decision (Lutley v. Southern,2011 BCCA 299)the BC Court of Appeal overturned a judge’s finding that the injury claimant was only 40% at fault and found her 85% at fault. Take a read of my review of the trial judge’s decision in this flashing green light car accident case. The Court of Appeal found that the trial…