After a car accident injury there is a big difference between a loss that “may” occur in the future and one in which there is a “real possibility”. Personal injury lawyers have long been trying to put some logic to this distinction and now the following Court of Appeal case introduces “realistic possibility” (Kim v. Morier, 2014…
The medical consensus was that the car accident victim had pre-existing degenerative changes of the lumbar spine which pre-dated the two motor vehicle accidents in question. The issue was to what extent the injury claimant may have suffered chronic low back pain despite the car accidents (Hoy v. Williams,2014 BCSC 234)The weight of medical opinion…
Yoga therapy likely mitigated further loss for this personal injury claimant as the trial judge awards life long Yoga therapy. The Court of Appeal upheld this $28,000 award for a yoga club membership as part of the cost of future care and $100,000 future wage loss award recognizing that the claimant was a high performing…
In this crosswalk personal injury occurring in Port Coquitlam (Paskall v. Scheithauer,2014 BCCA 26) the jury found a pedestrian twenty percent fault for her fractured her skull and traumatic brain injury after attempting to cross at a marked crosswalk. The verdict was upheld by the BC Court of Appeal despite the appellants plea that she was lawfully within a…
This personal injury claimant suffered soft tissue injuries in a car accident which developed into pain disorder. The issue at trial was the assessment of damages, and the first jury awarded her $528,000.00. This amount was overturned on appeal creating a a new “Reliable Hearsay Test” in personal injury cases. The second jury awarded her only…
In this failure to mitigate personal injury case(Maltese v. Pratap,2014 BCSC 18) the car accident occurred on Hastings Street in Burnaby after the claimant was driving home from a Vancouver Canucks hockey game. Another vehicle failed to stop and struck the passenger side of the claimant’s vehicle in a T-bone fashion. The Claimant suffered neck and lower…
In this first reported personal injury case of 2014 the judge awarded the claimant $100,000.00 for pain and suffering and reduced it by 40% to $60,000.00 reflecting that only 60% of her ongoing complaints and symptoms were caused by the car accident, with the balance attributable to her pre-existing condition.(Raikou v. Spencer,2014 BCSC 1). The judge…
In this bus accident injury settlement, (Zhang v. Heikkila,2013 BCSC 2275) following the examinations for discovery and after three medical reports had been obtained the matter settled for $11,000.00 plus costs and disbursements. ICBC refused however to pay the cost of three medical legal reports but in this application was forced by the court to…
This stunning and important Court of Appeal decision increased a loss of future earning capacity award making it easier to predict court awards in personal injury cases(Jurczak v. Mauro,2013 BCCA 507). Changing the tide following Perren v. Lalari, 2010 BCCA 140 the Court of Appeal appears to be embracing a more practical, mathematical and predictable approach…
In this Personal Injury Settlement Divorce Claim case(2013 BCSC 1827) The wife tried to claim half of the husband’s settlement from ICBC as a family asset. The husband kept his settlement from ICBC separate and did not use it for any family purpose. He had actually placed the settlement money in a separate bank account and…
“We pride ourselves on our results and our proven track record of success for over 20 years in representing thousands of injury victims throughout all of British Columbia and providing them with complete medical legal care.”