Monthly Archives: March 2005

Divisional Court Says No to Bifurcation of MVA Jury Trial

 It is not uncommon these days to see parties, usually defendants, ask for a “bifurcated trial”. In most cases, this means that liability would be tried first and then damages would be assessed at a later date, in a second … Continue reading

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Threshold Decision Favours Plaintiff But Jury Sees Case Differently

Regular readers of our Updates know that just when insurance defence lawyers and their clients were beginning to despair of ever winning a threshold motion, a series of decisions were handed down that favoured the defence. But a Superior Court … Continue reading

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B.C. Tavern Liability Case Notable for Facts, Not Law

By now, you have probably heard of last week’s decision of the B.C. Supreme Court in Laface v. McWilliams et al. This was a case in which a drunk driver drove into a group of pedestrians, causing some serious injuries. … Continue reading

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Calculating Interest

Many people who deal with personal injury damages claims (including lawyers and judges) don’t know (or don’t know that they don’t know) how to calculate prejudgment interest. This edition of the CW Update will summarize the applicable rules. The Courts … Continue reading

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No Right to IME in Absence of Adequate Supporting Evidence

A just-released Superior Court decision reminds us that defendants are not automatically entitled to have a personal injury plaintiff examined by multiple medical practitioners, from various disciplines. They must establish, through evidence, why such examinations are needed.

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C.A. Says That Relief From Forfeiture Not Usually Available for Pre-loss Conduct

In the space of a week, two appellate decisions have dealt with relief from forfeiture. First, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its ruling in Marche v. Halifax Insurance (about which we sent an Update last week). Today, the Court … Continue reading

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Insurer Must Defend Owner of Snowmobile

The Ontario Superior Court has ruled that TD General Insurance Company owes a duty to defend a liability claim arising out of a snowmobile accident, despite the company’s contention that it did not insure the owner of the snowmobile.

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