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.
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…
The court concluded that prior to the car accident the claimant had a number of “quiescent but present conditions” in his hands and wrists that would likely have become increasingly symptomatic over time even if the accident had never occurred. This included arthritis of the wrist and thumb. However, the fact that the defendants’ conduct triggered the…
This personal injury case arose from a car accident which occurred at the intersection of 140th Street and 74th Avenue in Surrey when the other vehicle turned left into the path of the claimant’s vehicle. She was 58 year old at the time of the accident and sought compensation for pain and suffering, past income loss, future income loss,…
In a stunning personal injury decision the Supreme Court has reduced a damage award for a brain injured 27 year old claimant. The court has taken judicial notice that cocaine is highly addictive, with heavy users facing a significant long-term and possibly life-long risk of relapse.(Kirilenko v. Bowie,2017 BCSC 2048) There was no real issue that…
The deceased was shot and killed accidentally by a guide near Burns Lake, British Columbia while participating in a grizzly bear hunt. This is the wrongful death claim of the widow. At issue was a release of liability sign by the deceased for the hunting season the year before the hunt in which he was killed.(Cooper v. Blackwell,2017…
This personal injury case the claimant was awarded a total of $404,282.20. However the defendants made a formal offer to settle before trial for $474,456.00 new money, plus advances of $15,669.40 for a total of $490,125.45, making it $101,475.74 higher than recovered.(Layes v. Stevens,2017 BCSC 2011) The claimant was injured in the motor vehicle accident. It came…
This personal injury claimant did not accept a reasonable offer to settle and the award at trial was significantly less than the offer. The claimant was offered more than $400,000 to settle his personal injury case before court but he refused. The jury awarded him under $200,000.(Luckett v. Chahal,2017 BCSC 1983) The court found the…