Ian S. Wright

The applicant, a minor whose mother was killed in a motor vehicle accident, sought statutory accident benefits from the insurer.

The parties engaged in settlement discussions and purportedly reached an agreement.

The applicant brought a motion to enforce the settlement, seeking an order for the insurer to pay a lump sum.

The insurer argued there was no binding settlement due to a lack of consensus ad idem regarding the scope of the release.

The arbitrator found he had jurisdiction to determine the existence of a settlement but concluded that no binding agreement was reached due to mutual mistake regarding the scope of the claims and the temporal scope of the settlement.

The motion to enforce the settlement was dismissed.

The insurer brought a motion seeking an order to compel a third-party psychologist to produce his rough clinical notes and other materials relied upon in his psychological assessment of the applicant.

The applicant did not oppose the motion and provided authorization for the release.

The third party did not attend the hearing.

The arbitrator found the materials relevant and ordered the third party to release all records pertaining to the applicant to the applicant's counsel.