Catherine A. Bruder

The plaintiff was involved in a motor vehicle accident and suffered a spinal fracture.

Liability was admitted by the defendant.

The court had to determine whether the plaintiff met the statutory threshold for permanent and serious impairment under the Insurance Act, and assess damages.

The court found significant credibility issues with the plaintiff's evidence, noting he had concealed pre-existing conditions and post-accident activities from his assessors.

Despite these credibility issues, the court accepted expert evidence that the plaintiff suffered a permanent serious impairment consisting of chronic left torso/rib pain and an adjustment disorder.

The court awarded $1,067,647 in total damages, applying substantial percentage reductions to the claimed amounts for loss of earning capacity and future care costs due to the unreliability of the plaintiff's self-reported limitations.

The plaintiff, a contractor, sued the defendant homeowner for unpaid contracting fees of $35,729.63 for building a log home.

The defendant counterclaimed against the contractor and the log home kit supplier for $124,203.30, alleging breach of contract due to delays and construction deficiencies.

The court found that the defendant homeowner, who acted as his own general contractor, was responsible for the delays and had wrongfully repudiated the contract by locking the contractor out of the site.

The court granted the plaintiff's claim for the unpaid balance and dismissed the defendant's counterclaim.

The defendants in a solicitor's negligence action brought a motion to remove the plaintiff's counsel of record, arguing he would be a key witness at trial regarding the dismissal of the plaintiff's underlying personal injury actions.

The court applied the Essa factors and found that the counsel's evidence was likely unnecessary or available from the plaintiff herself.

The court concluded that removing counsel would have a devastating impact on the plaintiff's ability to proceed and that the proper administration of justice did not compel his removal.

The motion was dismissed.

Following the dismissal of 42 consolidated motions for leave to appeal costs awards in 37 class actions, the respondent insurers sought costs totalling $345,349.36.

The Court of Appeal assessed the bills of costs submitted by various law firms representing the insurers.

Applying the principle that costs must be fair and reasonable rather than a strict mathematical calculation of hours times rates, the Court reduced the amounts claimed, noting that the complexity was procedural rather than legal or factual.

The Court fixed the total costs payable to the insurers at $141,645.26.

The appellants and the Law Foundation of Ontario sought leave to appeal costs orders made by the case management judge following the dismissal of several proposed class actions against automobile insurers.

The motion judge had awarded costs to the successful insurers, including substantial indemnity costs where the plaintiffs persisted with unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and deceit to overcome limitation periods.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the application for leave to appeal, finding no error in principle in the motion judge's exercise of discretion regarding entitlement or scale of costs.