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.
In a stunning act of judicial deference this keen use of the broad discretion to award costs has allowed a personal injury claimant to recovery the legal costs of a claim despite dismissal of the action. The claimant was involved in two car accidents about 3 years apart. In the first accident the defendant admitting fault and the…
Personal injury lawyers should know this wrongful dismissal contract case, as the employer successfully appealed a $30,000 mental distress award for aggravated damages. The Court of Appeal found there was no evidentiary foundation for a mental injury award for aggravated damages despite the Supreme Court Case Saadati (Lau v. Royal Bank of Canada,2017 BCCA 253). In…
Suing for civil assault in BC is different than claiming battery or negligence. As Judge Fleming states in the recent case of Akintoye v. White, 2017 BCSC 1094: [94] Despite its name, the tort of assault involves the intentional creation of the apprehension of immediate harmful or offensive conduct but no actual touching. A battery occurs whenever…
If an offer to settle a personal injury claim with ICBC is not in the proper form and not served on all the parties of record, the court can deny costs even if the offer is beat- Granja v. Jozsef, 2017 BCSC 1087. The injury claimant offered to settle his case for $70,000 before trial. ICBC refused…
A jury trial is a presumptive right in a personal injury action. This car accident injury occurred on Salt Spring Island when another vehicle, travelling in the opposite direction, turned left and into the path of the claimant’s vehicle. Given the complicated mental injury claim and other legal issues the claimant applied, unsuccessfully, to have the jury struck.…
After a car accident communications with ICBC (Insurance Corporation of BC) are necessary to make an injury claim. Many tourists call asking to hire a really good lawyer to deal with an ICBC injury claim. Here are three solid tips to help find the right lawyer for your injury claim: 1. Accreditation for lawyers I…
Mental injury has also been referred to by courts as psychological injury, psychiatric injury, emotional trauma, nervous shock, hysteria, mental distress, and a host of medical terms such as conversion disorder, somatic system disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and clinical depression. The Supreme Court of Canada in Saadati has synthesized all these terms down to…
This Court of Appeal case displays the behaviour of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, nurses and doctors in British Columbia when it come to defending against medically negligent mistakes. This appeals arose out of a medical negligence action in which a nurse and doctor were found to be negligent at the emergency department of Powell River General Hospital.…
Living in Surrey has its advantages although after a car accident personal injury lawyers must file suit in another city such as Vancouver. Surrey has an ICBC claim centre, convenient after a car accident, but does not currently have a Supreme Court Registry. The Vancouver Court building houses the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal Registries. Here is…
There have always been distractions for drivers since the invention of the automobile, yet the buzz term “distracted driving” claims to be a new phenomenon. This deliberately euphemistic and ambiguous term has been used to justify a massive increase in fines to the public and higher insurance premiums hence more profits for Canadian auto insurers. In…