Two Superior Court decisions released this afternoon contain some interesting observations with respect to the law of privilege. (Admittedly, some of our subscribers might quarrel with the juxtaposition of the adjective, “interesting”, with the phrase, “law of privilege”.) Before we…
In Snushall v. Fulsang, released today, the Court of Appeal discussed the appropriate treatment of contributory negligence in an MVA case, based on a plaintiff’s failure to wear (or to wear properly) a seatbelt. The jury in this case had…
In Lacombe v. Phillips et al., Master Robert Beaudoin has ruled that an insurer cannot subrogate against an entity named as an “additional insured” in one of its policies, even when the payment sought to be recovered was made under…
In ARG Construction Corp. v. Allstate, a decision released last week, Justice Lee Ferrier of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled on the apportionment of defence costs in an insurance dispute arising out of a construction claim. He held…
Justice David Little’s ruling in Stephens v. Stawecki makes it clear that, in determining whether a couple has “cohabited continuously for a period of not less than three years”, so as to make them “spouses” under s. 61 of the…
In David Polowin Real Estate Co. v. Dominion of Canada, released today, the Court of Appeal took the unusual step of reversing one of its own decisions. Not only that, the judge who wrote today’s decision (Justice John Laskin) was…
A Superior Court judge today dealt with a question that arises frequently in civil litigation: to what extent must “the findings, opinions and conclusions of an expert” be disclosed to an opposing party prior to trial? In Lecocq Logging Inc….
An embarrassment of riches. The Court of Appeal has released a second decision this afternoon which deals with almost the identical issue as did Herbison v. Lumbermens. In Vytlingam v. Farmer, the underlying claim arose from a boulder having been…
This afternoon, the Court of Appeal released its decision in Herbison v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty. The Court allowed the claimant’s appeal and ruled that an auto insurer, Lumbermens, was obliged to indemnify its insured (“Wolfe”) against the tort liability he…
In Meloche v. McKenzie, a decision of Mr. Justice Terrence Patterson, it was held that CPP disability benefits are deductible from an award of damages for pre-trial income loss in a Bill 59 motor vehicle case. It was also ordered…