Another trial success for the McComb Witten team

 I would like to thank the ladies and gentlemen of the jury who sat through two weeks of evidence and gave up their Saturday to deliberate.  They returned a fair and reasonable verdict that clearly weighed the totality of the evidence.  


This trial was a coming out party for Meghan Neathway and the McComb Witten litigation team.  Meghan did an amazing job as co-counsel on this trial.  She has a nose for detail and a heart of  a lion.  Meghan was a key contributor in the organization and selection of our evidence, refinement of our theory of our case, and preparation of our witnesses.  She did an amazing job with the witnesses she took at trial.  What I like most about Meghan's approach is her easy ability to be genuine even on a stage such as a jury trial.  Congratulations to you Meghan - you are a fine trial lawyer.


Anybody looking for a great Vancouver personal injury lawyer would be in great hands with Meghan.  Check out her bio:
Meghan Neathway's bio


Finally, our client is a class act.  A brilliant gentlemen with integrity and courage.  He suffered life threatening injuries and has the strength of character to make the most of his situation.  Two broken legs, brain injury, skull fracture, blowout fracture of his eye socket, fracture through a joint at the base of his skull, two broken bones in his back, and a shattered tailbone.  He made it out of his wheelchair 21/2 months later and was back at work 2 weeks after that!!!  ICBC told him that "he was the author of his own misfortune".  He had the courage to take his case to a jury and they found the driver that hit him 75% responsible for the accident.  Again, not exactly what we were looking for, but was a fair and  reasonable assessment of the evidence.  All in all the verdict was entered for $640,000 less 25% for contributory negligence.


The jury gave our client the resources to get the medical care he needs, compensated him for his past wage loss and gave compensation for the hit to his career and gave him a fair and reasonable amount for his pain and suffering.


Thank you to our client, our judge, Mr. Justice Abrioux, my colleague Meghan Neathway, and the jury.  It was great to see our justice system work.

Need a Physiotherapist in North Vancouver?

In an oral judgment for a ICBC claim for a Vancouver car accident, Justice Leask commended the knowledge and skill of physiotherapist Angelica Reeve of 19th Street Physiotherapy.  Justice Leask confirmed my own opinion of Ms. Reeve when he described her as "extremely professional and thorough."  He went on to say that he accepted her evidence without reservation.

To Ms. Reeve's credit, Justice Leask described Ms. Reeve as the best physiotherapist that he ever had testify in his court.

I can confirm that Ms. Reeve was impressive in her knowledge and had a passion for her work.  Although I have never been a patient, I can say without hesitation that anybody looking for a good physiotherapist in North Vancouver would be well served to give Angelica Reeve a call at 19th Street Physiotherapy.

To make it easy, here is the contact info:

19th Street Physiotherapy
224 West 19th Ave, (the office looks like a house, but it really is the office)
North Vancouver
604-988-5221

Check out the website:

http://www.19physio.com/staff.html

Creating New Law

As a vancouver personal injury lawyer or a litigator in general, it is always a little satisfying to create new law...even if it is simply an incremental change in the law for the better.  Yesterday, in an oral judgment following a trial, Justice Leask moved the law forward in a very helpful way.

Under the Rules of Court in BC, it is very hard to obtain admissions of fact from another side.  There are very few tools to force the other side to make reasonable admissions of fact.  When a party has been found to unreasonably deny facts, the court can award as punishment costs against the unreasonable party.

In the past, the courts in British Columbia have only awarded a complete set of costs as punishment or no costs because the conduct was not bad enough to justify such a harsh penalty.  For some reason, despite having complete discretion to award any amount as costs, courts have not awarded a "slap on the wrists" amount for costs to encourage reasonable admissions.

Additionally, the court has traditionally only looked at lost or wasted court time as a measure for costs.  Considering that only 1% of ICBC claims go to trial, extra burden on the other party ought to be a factor to consider rather than simply lost court time.

In the decision yesterday in Eom v. Chand (as yet unpublished), Mr. Justice Leask awarded $1000 against ICBC as costs for unreasonably denying facts until mid trial.  The unreasonable denial did not take up much court time, but did put the plaintiff at quite a burden.

It is not an earth shattering change in the law, but it is a step in the right direction.

Diminished Housekeeping Capacity

In my last post before taking a hiatus (November 2006), I wrote about how the law is changing to better reward unpaid housework which is largely performed by women.  Since then I have done two trials where loss of housekeeping capacity formed a significant part of the award.

In O'Rourke v. Everett, 2009 BCSC 1277, the judge awarded my client $18,720 for loss of housekeeping capacity.  The replacement work was performed by her husband.  The law does not, nor should it, require that the work be paid for by an outside provider.  The logic is that wealthy people can afford to replace the loss of housekeeping services, where modest income people could not.  Therefore the rich would be receiving better treatment under the law. In reality, that statement is probably true, however, our courts in British Columbia strive to develop case law consistent with equality values in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Read the case for yourself:

http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/SC/09/12/2009BCSC1277.htm

In Grewal-Cheema v. Tassone, 2010 BCSC 1182 the judge awarded $12,000 for loss of childcare services for the time that Ms. Grewal-Cheema was attending rehabilitation treatments.  Ms. Grewal-Cheema's husband rearranged his schedule to look after their child while his wife was at treatment.  The loss, however, is Ms. Grewal-Cheema's and not the husband's.  This type of claim is easy to overlook, but can be the difference between winning and losing a case.  Here is a link:
http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/SC/10/11/2010BCSC1182.htm

To my colleagues - I encourage you to push the law to drive towards equality.

To my clients - I give you my committment to know the law and search out evidence with you to prove all elements of your ICBC claim.

PT Health Physiotherapy

I would like to thank all of the physiotherapists that came out for the presentation on giving evidence at trial in a vancouver personal injury claim.

It is a testiment to the committment to their clients that PT Health and their physiotherapists are learning the skills needed to help their patients.

If you need a physiotherapist for your car accident in Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Squamish, I can recommend the committed people at PT Health.

ICBC Claim goes sideways

As I was getting my news (Canucks) hit from the Vancouver Sun, I saw a link to an article titled:

B.C. woman rear-ended in accident may lose driver's licence

www.vancouversun.com/technology/woman+rear+ended+accident+lose+driver+licence/4832794/story.html

The story is essentially about a woman who was injured in an accident that wasn't her fault, but she still owes money to ICBC to the tune of about $42,000.

The issue this woman faces is that, according to the judge, she seemed to have sued the wrong person.  The person that ran into her said she slipped on an oily substance on the road.  The owner of the vehicle leaking the oily substance was not discussed by the judge, but it seems that she did not sue the "John Doe" or ICBC.  I don't know when she hired her lawyer, but the person that was negligent was not known to her and the hit and run provisions would have applied to her.

If you have a hit and run situation, you have very, very strict obligations - failing which your claim could be dismissed and you would owe money just like this poor lady.  It highlights the importance of hiring a lawyer for your ICBC claim.

If you have questions call me at McComb Witten at 604-255-9018.

ICBC Claims and Storytelling

I read a book a number of years ago that crystalized to me what my role as a trial lawyer is when I present a case in court. The book:

Theatre Tips and Strategies for Jury Trials, by David Ball

Essentially, when presenting a case in court for an ICBC claim, I a storyteller. The story is how the personal injury impacted my client's life. The story is told through characters (witnesses).

It is such a simple concept, but so powerful. A good storyteller thinks about his/her audience and takes the audience to the conclusion and lets the audience draw the conclusion.

In a subsequent book David Ball writes that a trial is about whatever you spend the most time on....a pretty similar thread as to what Brian Tracy says about life in general (see an earlier post).

Hmm...all of the pieces seem to fit together like a puzzle!