An annoyingly slow overtaking vehicle cannot be blamed for the bad driving of others. The Court of Appeal has ruled that the overtaking another vehicle as quickly as reasonably possible standard is now inappropriate in British Columbia ( Borgfjord v. Boizard, 2016 BCCA 317). The slow defendant, driving 25-30 kph under the speed limit, was in the far left lane…
Here is an important tip for personal injury lawyers in BC- If the family doctor ordered or requested your client to have a private MRI and the advice was followed, this cost should be claimed as a special damage, not a disbursement (Uppal v. Judge, 2016 BCSC 642, para 107). The following is a case in point in which the cost…
Formal offers to settle in personal injury cases, including ICBC, filed in the Supreme Court are regulated by the Supreme Court Rules. Rule 9-1 is very specific about what is considered an offer to settle. An “offer to settle” is an offer that: (i) is made in writing by a party to a proceeding, (ii) has been…
The settlement amount offered to ICBC and the timing of the offer is important to a claim for double costs, even in “Fast Track” cases. As a general rule, the successful party in a fast-track personal injury case is awarded $6,500 in pre-trial costs and $1,500 in costs for each day of trial. Where an offer to…
Even the most experienced personal injury lawyers need to pay attention to this case. The Court of Appeal has made it clear: When finding a pedestrian 100% at fault the court must analyze not only the pedestrian’s duty but also the driver’s duty of care (Vandendorpel v. Evoy, 2016 BCCA 270). Statutory provisions and the duties imposed by…
The factors to be considered when valuing a personal injury claim with ICBC or other insurance companies will change according to the stage of your case. Some of the factors that may be important early on, such as claim reporting and notification, will give way to symptom documentation and medical diagnosis. Beware of the ICBC…
Injuries caused by fire can often be prevented by the use of fire alarms, commonsense. However, the Court of Appeal does not accept this as commonsense, and dismissed this renter’s injury appeal on the basis that there was no evidence that the use of a fire alarm would have reduced or eliminated the harm. In this injury…
Innocent car accident victims must now face the prospect of a court ordered medical examination conducted by doctors that are potentially unfair, impartial, not credible and not objective. In a stunning Masters decision of the Supreme Court requiring an ICBC claimant to attend a medical exam, the Master stated, “Questions of fairness, partiality, credibility, and…
This case affirms, despite what ICBC says to claimants without lawyers, an award for loss of future earning capacity is available in soft tissue injury cases in which claimants have suffered little or no loss of income: Hu v. Tan,2016 BCSC 908. The Supreme Court was convinced this personal injury claimant would not have considered retiring early had it not…
This personal injury claimant was awarded over $700,000 after ICBC failed to take her injuries seriously following six “minimal damage”, also called by ICBC “low velocity”, motor vehicle accidents. ICBC relied on Dr. William Koch, a registered psychologist in B.C. to argue that the claimant had pre-existing psychological disorders not related to the car accidents. Dr. Koch…