I have spent much time on this blog highlighting expert witnesses who have been criticized by trial judges.  On this note it is refreshing to see when an expert witness is complimented by the Court for being candid in their role.  Reasons for judgement were released today by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, doing this.
In today’s case (Gill v. Bhuller) the Plaintiff was involved in a 2010 collision caused by the Defendant.  She was ok at the scene and did not experience any symptoms until the following day.  She ultimately developed chronic soft tissue injuries.  The Court assessed non-pecuniary damages at $75000.
In the course of the litigation the Defendant had the Plaintiff examined by a physician that agreed she had ongoing symptoms from the collision which were expected to be chronic.  In complimenting the physician’s candid testimony Mr. Justice Macintosh provided the following reasons:
[25]         I was impressed by the testimony of Dr. Calvert called by the defence, because he was notably candid in his assessment of Ms. Gill, in keeping with the ethical responsibilities of an expert witness.  He accepted that she suffers ongoing pain.  He formed no impression that she malingers and he believed that she is genuine in searching for the cause of her problems.  He accepts that it is unlikely Ms. Gill’s symptoms will go away, and he can only speculate that she may see improvement.