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 evidence of an Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, adjuster in this car accident personal injury case was rejected by the Supreme Court after she suggested the claimant had concocted her complaints of hand pain and associated numbness.(Kovac v. Moscone,2014 BCSC 259). The accident occurred when the claimant was stopped at a red light at…
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 many personal injury cases offers to settle are made before going to trial to avoid the cost and risk. These offers are referred to as “without prejudice offers of settlement”. In this tragic pedestrian crosswalk case(Paskall v. Scheithauer,) The claimant was asking for some $2 million but the jury only awarded her $82,400 and found…
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…
The personal injury award following a 25 day trial in this ICBC gets double costs case(Minhas v. Sartor,2014 BCSC 47) was $76,653.00, much less than the $3 million sought by the claimant and the $275,000 offered by ICBC before trial. The judge, in one of the first times in BC legal history, has awarded ICBC…
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…
Mr. Renn Holness has been a trusted personal injury lawyer in Vancouver since 1995 and the following is his own list of the top cases for personal injury lawyers. THE BIG LIST For all you legal beagles out there, lawyers, law students, even law professors that enjoy reading personal injury law and related topics I’ve…
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…
Need for a Personal Injury Lawyer- Luxury or Necessity? Why hire a personal injury lawyer when ICBC has agreed to pay accident benefits? My answer to this question may surprise even my legal colleagues out there. I have been a personal injury lawyer in Vancouver since 1995 and when is comes to ICBC claims I have noticed…