Daniel M. Himelfarb

The parties disagreed on the value of a fire loss and proceeded to an appraisal under s. 128 of the Insurance Act.

The insurer nominated a single candidate for umpire and refused to consider any alternatives proposed by the insured.

The insurer brought an application to appoint its nominee, while the insured brought a cross-application seeking an order that the parties agree on an umpire or the insurer select from her list.

The court dismissed the insurer's application, finding that its refusal to collaborate and insistence on its sole nominee created a reasonable apprehension of bias.

The court granted the insured's cross-application.

The plaintiffs and a successful co-defendant sought costs following a summary judgment motion that determined liability for a chain-reaction motor vehicle accident.

The unsuccessful defendants argued that costs should not be awarded until damages were resolved and disputed the scale of costs.

The court held that liability costs could be fixed immediately and awarded partial indemnity costs to both the plaintiffs and the successful co-defendant, as the parties seeking substantial indemnity costs failed to provide evidence of their formal offers to settle.

In a multi-vehicle “chain reaction” collision case, the plaintiffs and two co‑defendants moved for summary judgment seeking a determination that the rear driver and vehicle owner were solely liable and that the other drivers did not contribute to the accident.

The motion judge considered evidence including a police accident report, transcripts from a related Highway Traffic Act prosecution, and discovery transcripts.

Applying the summary judgment principles articulated in Hryniak v. Mauldin, the court held that the evidentiary record permitted a fair and just determination without a trial.

The court found that the rear driver failed to rebut the presumption of negligence applicable to rear‑end collisions and rejected his inconsistent version of events.

Liability was therefore imposed on the rear driver and the vehicle owner, while the other drivers were found not liable.