ICBC Law

This is my latest in a series of podcasts discussing topics of interest in BC personal injury lawsuits.

Today I address pre-existing injuries and how these can be relevant in assessing damages in personal injury claims.

You can listen by clicking on the following link:  bc-injury-law-blog-pre-existing-conditions

If you want to learn more about pre-existing conditions and their treatment in personal injury lawsuits you can click here to access my archived posts on this topic.

UPDATE:  Since initially uploading this podcast the BC Court of Appeal released important reasons addressing injuries with multiple causes.  You can click here to read my article discussing this important case.

Further to my article published last week, the Supreme Court of Canada will soon decide whether damages can be awarded in lawsuits against the Government for breach of rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Shane Bigham of Vancouver’s News 1130 picked up on the story and ran a piece last week bringing further attention to this matter.  Shane was kind enough to provide me with a clip of this story and you can listen to it by clicking on the following link( bc-injury-law-civil-lawsuits-against-police-for-charter-breaches.)

The bottom line is that actions which violate individuals rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms may bring rise to lawsuits for civil damages.  Once the Supreme Court of Canada gives their decision in the Vancouver v. Ward appeal there will be welcome clarity in this area of the law.

While I don’t necessarily think that the floodgates will open if these types of lawsuits get the green light from the Suprene Court of Canada public institutions (police departments in particular) need to rethink the potential financial exposure their actions bring when creating policies that may violate rights under the Charter.

Mass searches at public events (such as alcohol searches at Canada Day festivities and the Celebration of Light) could give rise to numerous lawsuits.   Before deciding on the protocol that will be employed by police at these types of public events the RCMP and municipal police forces ought not overlook the potential implications of civil damages for Charter breaches.

This is the first in what I intend to be a series of podcasts discussing topics of interest involving ICBC and other BC personal injury claims.

Today’s topic is valuing a person’s non-pecuniary damages (money for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life) as a result of injuries caused by the fault of another.  To listen simply click on the following link:  bc-injury-law-podcast-non-pecuniary-damages

The case discussed in this Podcast is Stapley v. Hejslet, 2006 BCCA 34 and can be found by clicking here.

Cross examination is one of most important skills of a trial lawyer.  While there have been many useful texts written on the subject there is no better way to learn than seeing an effective cross-examination in action.

Gerry Spence is considered by many to be one of the best lawyers of all time.  Here is a great video of Mr. Spence demonstrating a cross-examination before a class in Ann-Arbor, Michigan some 25 years ago.

In this exercise the Defence witness had provided evidence supporting the Defendant’s case that they were not negligent.  Mr. Spence only makes one point in this clip; that this witness used the services of a ‘witness-consultant‘ before testifying.   Watch how much damage is done to this witness’ credibility with this one simple point brought out over the course of several very effective minutes.

When taking an ICBC or other BC personal injury claim to trial in the Supreme Court it is vital to understand the financial consequences that can be triggered when formal settlement offers are made. I have written dozens of articles on this topic and you can access these here.

Below is a brief video discussing some of the key factors you need to consider when reviewing ICBC’s formal settlement offer under the BC Supreme Court Rules and further the issues you should consider when making your own formal settlement offer. I hope this information is of assistance.

Today I was interviewed by Charles Adler of Corus Radio on the topic of commercial hosts who over serve their patrons and civil lawsuits for damages.

The law in Canada has long recognized that a commercial host can be successfully sued if they serve patrons to the point of intoxication and those patrons then are injured or cause injury to others.  Coincidentally just last week I wrote an article discussing the responsibility of Canadian bars and nightclubs to take reasonable steps to see that their patrons are reasonably safe.

You can click on the following link to listen to my portion of the interview in full:

radio-interview-commercial-host-liability (I’d like to credit CJOB 68 Winnipeg / Corus Radio Network for providing me with a copy of the clip.)

This is my second interview with Mr. Adler and you can listen to my previous interview discussing ‘frivolous lawsuits‘ by clicking here.

As always, feedback is welcome!

Here is video I recently uploaded to YouTube discussing injury claims (tort claims) brought by passengers when the driver of their vehicle is at fault for a single vehicle collision in British Columbia.

I have previously written about this topic and you can click here to read my archived posts discussing single vehicle collisions and the inevitable accident defence.

I hope this information is of assistance.

Other than “how much is my case worth?” the question probably most asked of personal injury lawyers is “when should I settle my claim?“.

The short answer is when your claim can be fairly valued and an acceptable settlement offer is made.  So when can a claim be valued?  Here is a brief video I uploaded to YouTube discussing this topic  (complete with an unexpected phone call in the middle of the video!)  I hope this information is of some assistance.

Here is a video I recently uploaded to YouTube providing a brief overview of some of the unique legal issues that provide an advantage to abuse victims when suing in the BC Civil Courts:

Last month I authored a handful of articles discussing some of the unique laws that apply to Civil abuse claim lawsuits.  These include the law of limitation periods, the law of non-pecuniary damages, and the law of vicarious liability.

Due to some of the positive feedback I received after authoring these articles I thought it may be helpful to summarize some of my advice in this brief video.  I hope this video and these articles are of some assistance.

Here is a video I recently uploaded to YouTube discussing some of the factors that go into valuing a BC Personal Injury Tort Claim:

One of the most frequent questions I’m asked as a BC Personal Injury Lawyer is ‘how much is my claim worth?’.

This is an important question for anyone injured through the fault of another in British Columbia.  When negotiating with ICBC (or another Insurance company) the playing field is typically imbalanced in that the Claims Adjuster has lots of experience in valuing personal injury claims.   Unless you are an injury claims lawyer you understandably would have little experience in valuing these claims and may need help valuing your losses.

It is important to empower yourself for the negotiation because in tort claims the insurer is negotiating on behalf of the person that injured you.  With this in mind, here is a brief video introduction discussing some of the common ‘heads of damages‘ that are frequently addressed in BC personal injury lawsuits.  I hope this information is of some assistance and helps to balance the playing field.