Author Archives: David Klein

Can you make a personal injury claim for negative effects on your social life?

  The short answer is yes. Effects on social life are taken into account during the assessment of non-pecuniary damages, which is more commonly referred to as pain and suffering. In fact, this is a fairly well established point of law. A strong precedent for this assertion can be found in McLeod v. Whittemore, 2018 BCSC […]

Are Medical Experts Becoming Less Influential in Personal Injury Cases?

Personal injury lawyers commonly hire doctors and other medical experts to provide expert evidence. Medical experts are tasked with providing their opinion, on subjects including: the cause of a plaintiff’s injuries, the future outlook of a plaintiff’s injuries, and how a plaintiff’s ability to work will or has been affected by injuries. When making a […]

An award for loss of capacity without any actual time off work.

  Loss of capacity refers to the loss of a person’s ability to earn income in the future. As previously stated,  the courts in British Columbia typically use one of two approaches to calculate this: the earnings approach and the loss of capital asset approach. The earnings approach involves a more mathematical approach and is […]

A loss of working ability does not always translate into a large award for future damages.

  It seems intuitive that a permanent injury and disability would lead to a decently sized award for future wage losses. However, this is not always the case. A plaintiff also needs to prove that there is a “real and substantial possibility” that their  disability will actually result in a loss. In a recent Supreme Court […]

Who’s at fault for a parking lot collision?

  Personal injury claims involving parking lots have a unique set of challenges. Most notably, liability is often disputed. Driver’s often back up out of spots, which makes it difficult for them to see other vehicles. Other challenges, such as pedestrians, obstacles, reduced visability, and tight spaces, are present. The driver of one vehicle will […]

Personal injury claims and pre-existing psychological disorders.

  How do the courts deal with pre-existing psychological disorders? The goal of the court process is to provide financial compensation to injured parties to compensate them for actual losses. Thus, the courts must take into account a plaintiff’s pre-existing psychological state. In this recent supreme court of British Columbia case, the courts were left […]

Retirement age: making claims for employment losses past 65.

  At one point, it was common for people to retire at the age of 65. As medical knowledge and financial obligations have increased, many people are working beyond this age, and retirement ages among individuals vary considerably. The courts are often left in a position where they have to estimate retirement ages for individuals, […]

Can stay at home parents make claims for wage losses?

  The short answer is yes. This issue was dealt with in this recent Supreme Court of British Columbia case: http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/sc/18/12/2018BCSC1200.htm   Here, a young woman and mother to 3 young children was injured in 2 separate motor vehicle accidents. The plaintiff intended to stay out of the workforce until her youngest child had entered […]