Recently, I read Saldana v Caruana et al., 2015 ONSC 4426 (CanLII), a decision of Justice Mario D. Faieta. On a motion for summary judgment, His Honour ruled that a defendant was “at least 1% liable” for a motor vehicle accident. Does…
Mr. Justice Robert Smith of the Superior Court released a decision last week that might signal a new approach to the bifurcation of trials. In Wang v. Byford-Harvey et al., His Honour ordered the bifurcation of a personal injury trial,…
The debate continues as to whether family physicians may testify as experts or only as fact witnesses. In this case, the issue arose with a bit of a twist: the court opened the door for the plaintiff’s family doctor to…
Leonard v. Kline, 2011 ONSC 2730 (CanLII) is a personal injury action arising out of a motor vehicle accident. The plaintiff sought leave from Mr. Justice Gregory Ellies to call ten experts. (Section 12 of the Evidence Act requires that…
In an important new decision, Mr. Justice J. Patrick Moore has refused to allow the defendant in a personal injury action to adduce expert testimony from three physicians who examined the plaintiff in connection with a claim for statutory accident…
In Fiddler v. Chiavetti, the Court of Appeal has held that the current maximum award for the loss of care, guidance and companionship under s. 61 of the Family Law Act, is $125,000. That amount represents the $100,000 award approved…
The ruling of Mr. Justice Peter Lauwers in Trypis v. Lavigne is helpful for trial lawyers because it deals with aspects of counsels’ jury addresses that Justice Lauwers held to be improper. This was a slip and fall case. At…
In a recent decision, Madam Justice Ellen MacDonald refused to permit a defence expert to give opinion evidence at trial. After reviewing a series of email messages that had been exchanged between the expert and certain of the defendants and…
Today’s decision of the Court of Appeal in Laudon v. Roberts was bad news for two of the three parties (the plaintiff and one defendant) but very good news for the other defendant. The action arose out of a boating…
In Leader Media Productions v. Sentinel Hill Alliance Atlantis Equicap Limited Partnership, the Court of Appeal confronted an issue that a number of lawyers of our acquaintance (including some in our office) have encountered: what to do when the trial…