Aggravated damages compensate a claimant for intangible injuries, such as distress and humiliation, which are caused by a defendant’s conduct. The appellants were found to have defamed the plaintiff and the judge awarded damages of $1,205,000 and special costs, and granted a permanent injunction against the appellants, restraining publication of any defamatory words concerning the Plaintiff. All…
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal finding a truck driver solely liable for the serious injuries suffered by a motorcyclist totaling $838,430 in losses. The injury claimant was seriously injured when the motorcycle he was riding collided with the front end of the left-turning transport truck (Ranahan v. Iron Horse Enterprises & Logistics Inc.,2018 BCCA…
In this precedent changing personal injury Court of Appeal decision, the injury claimant, struck by another vehicle on the passenger side where she was seated, was awarded $1,782,068, including $418,000 for loss of housekeeping capacity at trial. We focus on this exciting new statement from the court of appeal embracing this claim for loss of housekeeping capacity…
A car accident injury claimant is entitled to appeal a Supreme Court decision to the Court of Appeal. However, as shown in our case study, absent a palpable and overriding error affecting the trial judge’s assessment of the facts, the Appeal Court will not interfere with a finding of fact or an inference based on those facts.…
The amount awarded for cost of future care can be adjusted up or down to take into account the availability of other benefits. In this Court of Appeal decision the court reaffirms this principle as it relates to the likelihood of continued publicly funded home care from Alberta Health Services (AHS). The injury claimant was involved…
In this car accident personal injury case the claim for past loss of earning capacity was dismissed as speculative. Even though the trial judge used the wrong and higher standard of balance of probability, the Court of Appeal still dismissed the appeal. (Rousta v. MacKay,2018 BCCA 29). The ICBC claimant was driving on Taylor Way…
In this bizarre personal injury case a security guard was run over and injured by a fleeing vehicle after a shoplifter stole a pair of sunglasses. ICBC then tried to blame the security guard for being contributorily negligent.(MacKenzie v. John Doe,2018 BCSC 104) The security guard approached the shiplifter’s passenger side and opened the door, saying “store security”. He…
The claimant was rear ended when stopped in traffic which caused her vehicle to strike the rear of another vehicle in front of her. This personal injury case settled on the Friday prior to the commencement of trial the following Monday. The settlement was for payment of $736,807.00 new money, plus assessable costs and disbursements for…
In this important and first Supreme Court personal injury case of 2018 the court accepts that a claim for past loss of earning capacity involves a consideration of hypothetical events. Therefore an ICBC injury claimant is not required to prove these hypothetical events on a balance of probabilities when claiming loss of past opportunity to earn.(De Groot…
The Rear Ender: Mechanics of Whiplash Associated Disorder The neck acts as a stationary marker during an average rear end impact collision. When hit from behind by a car the spine and torso load the seat and the torso begins to accelerate. Significantly high shear forces develop in the neck and brain, the spinal curves straighten and the…
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