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.

Court of Appeal Determines Ski Waiver Is Unenforceable Signalling a Change in the Law

Occupier’s liability in British Columbia imposes a duty on occupiers to take reasonable care that users of their premises are reasonably safe. This duty of care can be limited and excluded by an occupier in certain circumstances such as through releases and waivers of liability which are often required as a condition of participating in…

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Cyclist Found 50% At Fault for Passing Cars on the Right

As I have written in previous articles, cycling as a primary mode of transportation is increasing in popularity in urban settings especially in Vancouver. While there are a number of dedicated bike lanes, the number of streets without dedicated bike lanes far outweigh the number of streets with them. Section 183 of the Motor Vehicle…

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What you need to do if you are injured in a slip and fall on Private Property (Occupier’s Liability)

If you are injured because you have slipped or tripped on a hazard on private property, you may have a claim for compensation for your injuries against the property owner or the occupier of the property (i.e. tenant). Private property owners or occupiers include homeowners, business owners such as retail stores, restaurants and coffee shops,…

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Medical Malpractice – Proving Causation

There are a number of challenges in proving causation against a doctor. Medicine is often described as an art, not a science, because it is imprecise and unpredictable. Diagnostic procedures and tests can often be imperfect. Patients may present with confusing or inconsistent signs and symptoms. Treatments often carry risk of poor outcomes or side…

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ICBC No Fault Insurance = WCB/Worksafe for Car Accidents

The recent announcement by the NDP of a complete overhaul of ICBC into no fault insurance is not fully understood by most British Columbians. In fact, the NDP has completely duped the public into believing that this is a good thing. Only ICBC and the NDP will benefit from no fault insurance. One of the…

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Medical Malpractice Claim Not Too Complex for a Jury

Howe v. Hwang 2018 BCSC 90 involved a medical malpractice claim where the injured claimant alleged that not only the wrong surgery was performed on her by the defendant doctor, but that the wrong surgery was done incorrectly resulting in life threatening complications and additional surgeries to save her life. The parties agreed on quantum…

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The ICBC Fraud of No-Fault Insurance- Blame the Innocent

No-Fault auto insurance means ICBC will profit by letting guilty drivers get away with killing and maiming the innocent. The history of no-fault auto insurance in other jurisdictions shows a callous disregard for human life. Profit over quality of life. If you are a bad driver and cause of your own disability and the disability…

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$110,000 Pain and Suffering Award for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and Chronic Pain

In this car accident case (Winick v. Goddard 2020 BCSC 4), the 27 year-old female injured claimant was involved in 3 collisions. In the 1st car accident, the injured claimant sustained soft tissue injuries to her neck and back with pain radiating into her hip and legs that were aggravated by the 2nd car accident…

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ICBC’s Flagrant Ignorance of Trial Orders Criticized as Deserving of Sanction and Rebuke

As was reported in a recent blog post, ICBC in 2019 rolled out its new policy of withdrawing settlement offers and replacing them with unreasonably low settlement offers. The result has been two-fold. First, ICBC is now dragging out claims for as long as possible in hopes that an injured claimant will give up and…

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