Settle Out of Court for $80,000; Fight in Court Over $1400

Litigation arising from a motor vehicle accident tends to be difficult for all parties involved, particularly with the stress of a lawsuit ‘hanging’ over your life. Sometimes you just wish that the other side would ‘see the light’, be reasonable and agree to resolve the lawsuit.

In some instances, litigation becomes fairly heated between the parties and counsel involved, so that both sides are simply not prepared to negotiate or compromise any further. The limit has been reached and there is no sense in more discussion. Such was the situation in this recent motion decision: Timmy v. Campbell, 2014 ONSC 405 (CanLII).

In this case, the parties settled this car accident lawsuit for $80,000.

In the back and forth of the negotiations, however, the defendant offered $80,000 to settle and this was rejected by the plaintiff, who wanted $84,000. Without a settlement, the lawsuit continued and a defence medical of the plaintiff was arranged. Unfortunately, the plaintiff did not attend the defence medical examination, which generated a $1400 cancellation fee. In the midst of this issue, the plaintiff accepted the $80,000 offer, thereby settling the case.

This left the $1,400 cancellation fee, which counsel could not resolve. So this motion was brought – which obviously consumed much more than $1,400 in fees and disbursements.

Sometimes even splitting a $1,400 fee between two parties is too much to bear.

Judge Healey found that the plaintiff’s acceptance of the offer was good and was not predicated on the plaintiff paying the cancellation fee. The settlement of $80,000 was confirmed and the defendant was responsible for paying the $1400 cancellation fee, as well as potentially some costs arising from this motion.

Gregory Chang

Toronto Insurance and Personal Injury Lawyer