In an important ruling for tort litigation, the Supreme Court of Canada today allowed an appeal from a decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal which dealt with the issues of “foreseeability” and “causation”. In the course of its reasons,…
It is not every day that the Court of Appeal says that one of its earlier decisions was wrongly decided, but that is what happened today. In Lawrence v. Maple Trust Company, a five-member panel of the Court said that…
In Gordon v. Greig, Justice Bruce A. Glass has assessed damages arising out of catastrophic injuries to two young men who were involved in the same motor vehicle accident. Both were awarded general non-pecuniary damages of $310,000, the maximum available…
Last month, Justice Colin McKinnon gave judgment for the plaintiff against the City of Ottawa in a slip-and-fall case: Cerilli v. Ottawa (City). (Justice McKinnon probably did not endear himself to the city fathers (and mothers) with the opening words…
In Dumbrell v. The Regional Group of Companies Inc., the Court of Appeal has reviewed the principles governing contractual interpretation. It has also provided a useful discussion of the circumstances in which the directing mind of a corporation can (and…
In two decisions, released today, a five-member panel of the Court of Appeal has held that the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund is, for limited purposes, an “insurer”. The cases are Allstate Insurance Company of Canada v. Motor Vehicle Accident…
In Scaini v. Prochnicki, the Ontario Court of Appeal reviewed the jurisprudence dealing with setting aside an order made by the registrar of the Superior Court, dismissing an action for failure to place it on a trial list within two…
Last April, we began a post by remarking that “The law firm of Kramer Henderson had a very good day today.” Mr. Justice John Belleghem had allowed an appeal from a decision of an assessment office and had allowed a…
In an important decision, released today, the Court of Appeal in York Condominium Corporation No. 382 v. Jay-M Holdings Limited et al. reversed a ruling by Mr. Justice John Ground and held that if a claim is not discovered until January…
In Smith v. London Life Insurance Company, the Divisional Court reversed an order made by Superior Court Justice Gordon Thomson, who had directed the defendant London Life to produce “its entire claims file arising from a prior action between the parties, including…