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.
This personal injury claimant, born and raised in the Lower Mainland, was awarded $14,000 for his legal costs and the defendant was ordered the pay the trial costs of the his medical experts (Mothe v. Silva,2015 BCSC 1053 ). The claimant was injured in a motor vehicle accident that occurred at River Road in Richmond, BC…
Money awarded for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life for injury to the human body appears to be worth less than being unjustly jailed says the Supreme Court of Canada (Hinse v. Canada (Attorney General, 2015 SCC 35 ). The Supreme Court of Canada in the Andrews trilogy set an upper limit of $100,000 for…
When injured as a passenger on a public bus, public carriers and bus drivers have a heavy burden to establish that they used all due, proper and reasonable care and skill to avoid or prevent injury to the passenger. This principle was reaffirmed in the personal injury case of Hutchinson v. Dyck, 2015 BCSC 1039. The claimant was…
A new cost-benefit analysis for admission of expert reports introduced by the Supreme Court of Canada expands the gatekeeping role of judges in Canada (White Burgess Langille Inman v. Abbott and Haliburton Co., 2015 SCC 23). This development will change the landscape of expert evidence in personal injury lawsuits, especially when it comes to the hired guns such as…
This ICBC claimant was involved in a motor vehicle accident while driving a vehicle which was insured by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC. The claimant reported the accident to ICBC without a lawyer and in so doing made a number of statements regarding the circumstances of the collision. ICBC refused to pay the claimant for his vehicle, alleging the…
In this offer to settle slip and fall case the court used its discretion and allowed a claimant that was found 50 % at fault to recover 65% of her costs. The claimant was also awarded double costs after the insurance comany refused to accept a reasonable offer of settlement almost a month before trial…
This unrepresented ICBC injury claimant was awarded $1,500 for two car accident injuries but was required to pay $19,00.00 in legal costs to the other side ( 2015 BCSC 940) after refusing to accept an ICBC offer of $40,000. There were serious credibility and evidence issues in the personal injury case. The amount awarded does not…
This Court of Appeal personal injury case has only affirmed, and not changed, the law surrounding loss of capacity claims, including loss of renovation, landscaping , house-cleaning, and housekeeping Capacity ( Reynolds v. M. Sanghera & Sons Trucking Ltd.,2015 BCCA 232). We focus on loss of landscaping capacity as well as loss of renovation capacity claims in motor…
Assessing fault after a car accident involves applying the common law duties of care. This personal injury lawsuit concerned the determination of liability for injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Fraser Street and East 12th Avenue in Vancouver (Boyd v. Baldwin,2015 BCSC 887).The claimant was a front seat passenger in a vehicle…
when negligent driving puts another person in peril, rescuers are given special treatment and are allowed to claim damages for injuries resulting from the rescue. However, the claimant in this personal injury appeal case was not able to prove that there was a true peril and therefore was not considered a rescuer ( Ray v.…
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