$418,000 Injury Award for Loss of Housekeeping Capacity Upheld

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…

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Brain Injury Case Appeal Dismissed as Fact Driven

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.…

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Future Care Injury Award Reduced for Public Funding

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…

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Prima Facie Inference of Negligence Wins Appeal

This injury claimant was a passenger in a single vehicle accident. The car accident occurred on Stillwater Main Road, a gravel logging road which intersects Highway 101 near Powell River, British Columbia. As the claimant’s vehicle approached the intersection, the driver lost control, the vehicle fishtailed, went up onto an embankment, launched into the air and rolled…

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Negligent Driver Denies Claimant in Car at time of Accident

The claimant was allegedly injured in a car accident on Kingsway, approaching the intersection at Hall Avenue, in Burnaby. However in this pithy decision the Court of Appeal permitted the negligent driver to dispute that the claimant was in the vehicle at the time of the car accident despite admitting negligence (Brennan v. Colindres,2017 BCCA 413). The negligent driver testified…

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Medical-legal Report Not required But Claimant Only Awarded $100.00

In a surprise winning decision this personal injury claimant succeeds in his appeal against the dismissal of his injury claim.  Failing to file a medical-legal report is not a grounds for dismissal and the claimant was not provided with adequate notice. However, given the scant evidence he was only awarded $100.00. for his personal injury…

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Open Courts Process the Very Soul of Justice in Personal Injury Cases

This was an application of a personal injury claimant to have the judge’s reasons withdrawn from the Court’s website (2017 BCCA 321). In  the personal injury case it was alleged the claimant suffered a brain injury that left him with a lack of emotional control. The claimant had an “outburst” during cross-examination that involved the use of expletives, and…

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ICBC Uninsured Motorist Protection Denied to 17 Year Old Passenger

A 17 year old ICBC claimant was a passenger injured in single-car accident in which a 15-year-old unlicensed driver lost control of a vehicle owned by another.  They were at a campground near Dry Lake BC and were going to buy hotdogs when the driver lost control of the vehicle while fiddling with the CD player. The…

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Drunk Pedestrian Looking for a Fight Only 40% at Fault for Being Run Over

This intoxicated pedestrian, Mr. Joel Robert Michael Ackley, made fun of a driver’s dreadlocks and removed his shirt while waiting for the driver to emerge from the Subway (Ackley v. Audette,2015 BCSC 1272). As the driver tried to leave the parking lot Mr. Ackley tried to prevent him from getting into his car. When the driver got into his…

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