Dr. Finegan

The accused, a 21-year-old man, was charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, and breach of recognizance after engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old complainant who had a profound intellectual disability.

The court found that the complainant lacked the capacity to consent and that the accused was wilfully blind to her incapacity, failing to take reasonable steps to ascertain consent.

Furthermore, the court rejected the accused's mistake of age defence, finding he ignored obvious warning signs regarding her age and developmental level and failed to take all reasonable steps to ascertain her true age.

The accused was found guilty on all counts.

Following a successful medical malpractice trial resulting in a $5.3 million judgment for the plaintiffs, the court assessed costs.

The plaintiffs had beaten their $4.5 million offer to settle, entitling them to substantial indemnity costs from the date of the offer.

The court considered the complexity of the case, the extensive expert evidence required, and the proportionality of the costs to the recovery, ultimately fixing costs at $2,201,259 inclusive of fees, disbursements, and HST.

The plaintiffs brought a motion under Rule 7 for approval of a $6,625,000 settlement in a medical negligence action arising from severe birth injuries to the minor plaintiff.

The court approved the overall settlement amount but found the solicitor's proposed contingency fee of over $1.5 million to be unreasonable given the time expended and the results achieved.

The court reduced the legal fees to $1,000,000 and also reduced the proposed allocation of funds to the parents' Family Law Act claims to ensure the minor plaintiff received adequate funds for his lifelong care needs.