E. Eva Frank

The appellant solicitor was called to a hospital to prepare a deathbed will for a terminally ill patient.

After interviewing the patient, who drifted in and out of consciousness, the solicitor concluded the patient lacked testamentary capacity and declined to prepare the will.

The patient died intestate.

A prospective beneficiary sued the solicitor for negligence and succeeded at trial.

On appeal, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that the solicitor's duty was to ascertain testamentary capacity.

Finding the patient lacked capacity, the solicitor properly declined the retainer.

In the absence of a retainer, the solicitor owed no duty of care to the prospective beneficiary.

The appellants, operators of a group home, appealed a civil jury verdict that found them 80% liable and the Children's Aid Society 20% liable for severe frostbite injuries suffered by a developmentally challenged student who went absent without leave from his high school.

The jury found the school board 0% liable.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that the jury's finding of no negligence by the school board was supported by the evidence, particularly the appellants' failure to communicate prior runaway incidents to the school.

The court found no palpable and overriding error to justify interfering with the jury's apportionment of liability.