In this personal injury case the claimant was injured when a car made a left-hand turn into his path while driving northbound on Nelson Avenue in Burnaby. The claimant suffered tinnitus predominantly in his right ear, dizziness, balance issues, jaw pain, and soft tissue injuries to his chest, neck, shoulders, back, and right shin. The soft tissues…
In a stunning blow to victims of personal injury the court has upheld a decision to pay only $20.00 to compensate a winning claimant for the non-expert testimony of a family physician. Unfortunately this will mean treating healthcare providers will now be subpoenaed to testify without payment for their preparation and attendance. (Luis v.…
It can be difficult to know how much to pay for legal services if you have little or no experience hiring a lawyer after a personal injury. The years of legal training and experience help to determine the lawyer’s best hourly and percentage fee. Here are a few case examples to help understand what is reasonable…
The injury claimant suffered a spinal cord injury and a traumatic brain injury when a train owned by the Canadian National Railway, CNR, struck her car as she crossed the railway tracks on Smith Crescent close to Glover Road in Langley, BC. The judge found CNR failed to maintain adequate sightlines at the Crossing by allowing an overgrowth of…
Valuing psychiatric injury and proving post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD, is an evidentiary challenge. This PTSD injury claim reviews several cases in which PTSD was established. This case involved a 55 year old truck driver injured in a motor vehicle accident on Highway 1 near Chilliwack, BC. Having found the other driver 100% at fault the court…
Sometimes it is obvious in a car accident case when a jury does not like a litigant. Although after 22 days of trial, the jury found the City of Surrey negligent for failing to adequately maintain the snowy roadway, they found the claimant 75% contributorily negligent. The jury also reduced her award by a further 75% on a…
In this left turn car accident injury case the 23 year old claimant was awarded over $1.8 million in damages, including $185,000 for pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and $1.28 million for future loss of earnings. The Supreme Court judge required only three weeks to deliver her written decision, creating new expectations that justice should…
In awarding this personal injury claimant double costs for beating the pre-trial offer of settlement, the Supreme Court has articulated 5 key principles to consider if you beat an offer to settle. The defendant insurer State Farm cancelled a mediation because their view was that mediation to settle the car accident claim had little chance of…
ICBC has tried to create the impression in recent years of an increase in fraud, this is confusing and untrue. In yet another case in point, the Court of Appeal has told ICBC they failed to prove this claimant lied or made a false statement.(Insurance Corporation of British Columbia v. Mehat, 2018 BCCA 242). The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia sued…
This Court of Appeal case arose from a three car accident personal injury claim. This case was complicated by numerous tortious and non-tortious incidents which caused or aggravated the chronic mental and physical injuries before and after the car accidents in question.(Khudabux v. McClary,2018 BCCA 234) A review of the trial judge’s reasons can be found at $75,000 pain and suffering Award for…