Although the claimant’s injuries were exacerbated as a result of chiropractic treatment this did not break the chain of causation. “The chain of causation will be broken where an intervening event, rather than the defendants’ conduct, is considered the proximate or legal cause of the subsequent injury. This principle, known as novus actus interveniens, recognizes that defendants…
The government of BC may be preparing to back ICBC in an appeal of a $350,000 award against ICBC for malicious prosecution. Transportation Minister Todd Stone indicated that ICBC may be considering an appeal. This is in a case where employees of ICBC were found to be getting enjoyment out of causing difficulty to innocent accident victims. When…
ICBC applied unsuccessfully in this multiple car accident injury case (Gill v. Mijatovic,2016 BCSC 239) to extend the time for the filing of a Notice Requiring Trial by Jury. The Jury Notice was filed beyond the 21 day notice period provided for and ICBC paid the jury fees despite the late filing. The defendants in all three car accident…
ICBC is now forced to pay double costs on behalf of their insured after failing to accept several reasonable offers to settle this personal injury claim. ICBC’s unreasonable conduct forced this claimant to pursue this car accident litigation for over 10 years to obtain an award of over $700,000.00 from the court for soft tissue injuries to her…
In a dramatic turn-around the Court of Appeal has allowed the appeal and set aside the order below dismissing this personal injury case . The car accident was at a very low speed and resulted in only approximately $100 in damage to the bumper of the claimant’s van. The defendant’s car was behind the claimant’s van in…
This car accident occurred while the claimant was making a left turn from Lougheed Highway onto Kanaka Way in Maple Ridge, BC. This was an appeal from an order made apportioning 60% of the fault for the accident to the claimant, and 40% of the fault to the respondent, a through driver (Pirie v. Skantz,2016 BCCA 70).…
Even if an injury claimant wins at trial in an ICBC injury claim, defendant’s have a right of appeal. In this case even though the defendant lost at trial they alleged that the trial judge was wrong and should have blamed the claimant for her own injuries (failure to mitigate) and should have drawn an adverse…
The purpose of an award for pain and suffering, called “non-pecuniary damages”, is to provide money compensation that ameliorates the condition of an injured claimant. In making such an award, the following factors are relevant: age of the claimant; nature of the injury;severity and duration of pain; disability; emotional suffering; loss or impairment of life; impairment of family, marital and social…
It is not surprising that in a free and democratic society we should have a public right to an open court process. Having truly a open court ensures that common values are being applied within all our British Columbia judicial proceedings. Openness is essential to accessibility and accountability in the judicial system. However, personal injury…
Developments in personal injury law for 2015 are exciting and range from the new and approved claim of moral injury to new limits on sanctions that can be leveled against injury claimants. ICBC claimants that fail to accept a reasonable offer no longer have to pay double costs and Masters cannot impose financially crippling sanctions against claimants in the document…