The settlement of personal injury cases in Canada just got more complex. The Supreme Court of Canada has eked out a new place for mediation contracts, in our legal arsenal of settlement tools, that contain absolute confidentiality clauses preventing parties from proving the terms of a settlement (Union Carbide Canada Inc. v. Bombardier Inc., 2014 SCC 35).…
In this offer to settle a personal injury case Judge Funt has done away with the old rule against all-inclusive offers to settle. That is to say the Judge entertained an $250,000 all-inclusive pre-trial offer of the defendant when awarding double costs to the defendant, changing the law and overturning our Court of Appeal in Helm v. Pattie(1998),…
ICBC’s offer to settle this personal injury case for $125,000.00 was just above the $121,600 awarded by the court. As a result the judge denied the claimant his costs after the date of the ICBC offer for the first accident and, having found the second car accident caused no injury, awarded costs to the other successful…
Quick Answer: “A Case Settles for what it is Worth” As a young lawyer I was told by my mentor Thomas O. Griffiths a case settles for what is it worth and was quickly put to work researching caselaw. I had a hard time understanding what he meant because you never know how much the…
Important implications for ICBC settlements arise from this ground breaking Court of Appeal case forcing ICBC to pay double costs for failing to accept a reasonable offer of settlement (Meghji v. British Columbia (Ministry of Transportation and Highways,2014 BCCA 105 ). The court found that it is improper for ICBC to reject all settlement offers above the…
Personal injury lawyers are often faced with advising clients about offers of settlement. This, claimant gets awarded less than settlement offer case(Brewster v. Li,2014 BCSC 463) illustrates the modern approach BC Courts are taking to pre-trial offers of settlement. If you don’t accept a reasonable offer, expect to lose your costs and disbursements for trial,…
A $222,000 offer to settle a car accident injury claim was rejected and after a ten day trial a jury awarded $53,000. In light of the juries award the claimant was denied the costs of preparation and attendance at trial (Wafler v. Trinh,2014 BCCA 95). The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia had made three offers to settle…
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…
Being ahead of the curve when it comes to anticipating changing interests on the other side of an injury claim can lead to profound improvements in your negotiating as a lawyer. Potential personal injury clients are also well aware of how important it is that their lawyer to be part of the changing process of…
Offers to settle and settlement discussions in a civil case cannot generally be used as evidence at trial and are considered without prejudice, even when dealing with ICBC. This rule was created to provide protection to litigants that try to resolve disputes and is referred to as settlement privilege. In this email settlement offer case (Mayer…