Toronto Personal Injury Law Blog

You won’t be given relief, unless you ask….

A pretty aggressive motion by the defendants, having apparently failed to slow down one set of plaintiffs (which was ordered to Trial by Judge Snowie) led to this motion to drastically speed up the lawsuits of two other sets of plaintiffs: Chen v. Ji, 2013 ONSC 7408 (CanLII).

All 3 sets of plaintiffs were involved in the same August 2011 motor vehicle accident in Ontario. The first set started their lawsuit early and were ready to go to Trial in Jan/2014.… Continue Reading

This case involves a last minute adjournment motion by the defendant (insurer) based on a medical report served by the plaintiff about 2 weeks before Trial, involving a claim for personal injury suffered in this Ontario lawsuit.

The defendant served an updated medical report about 3 weeks before Trial; it is unclear whether this was based upon a concurrent defence medical examination or whether it was an updated report based on a paper review: Quan v. Staar Surgical Company, 2014 ONSC 27 (CanLII).… Continue Reading

Security for costs motions are yet another road block that personal injury plaintiffs can expect if they live outside of Canada while their tort lawsuit is active. The theory being that if you live outside the jurisdiction and the defendant successfully defeats your lawsuit, then you will be a difficult target for the defendant to ‘chase’ for payment of their legal costs for having to defend your lawsuit.

In the recent case of Kurtz v. Carquest Canada Ltd., 2013 ONSC 7683 (CanLII), this arose in the context of a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, where after the alleged dismissal, the employee moved from Canada to live in the United States.… Continue Reading

An important Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) decision on the issue of Ontario summary judgment motions had been rendered, affecting all civil litigation, including personal injury lawsuits and insurance lawsuits as well: Hryniak v. Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7 (CanLII).

This decision provides clarity as to the powers and responsibilities of the Court, and parties, in respect of summary judgment motions. It further clarifies the law after the Ontario Court of Appeal decisions in Combined Air – note that Hryniak was one of the five actions in the Ontario Court of Appeal’s Combined Air decision.… Continue Reading

When you are hurt in a motor vehicle accident in Ontario, some accident benefits available to you potentially is attendant care benefits, which is a monthly payment to assist you with you daily activities while you are hurt. This may include getting ready in the morning, preparing your meals, etc.

There were big changes (i.e. reductions in attendant care benefits payable) in September 2010, including the limitation as to who could provide you with attendant care and be paid for their service.… Continue Reading

Splitting a trial – between liability and damages – is a tactic which favours the defendant insurers. If you have a serious injury, can the defendant force you to go to Trial twice? Can the defendant de-risk the file in the face of a significant damages claim?

A new case that should cause plaintiff personal injury lawyers to shudder: Woodbury v. Woodbury, 2013 ONSC 7736 (CanLII)

If you have a serious injury, can the defendant force you to go to Trial twice?… Continue Reading