Jennifer L. Hunter

Following a 21‑day personal injury trial concerning municipal liability for road conditions and signage, the successful plaintiffs sought partial indemnity costs exceeding $1,045,000.

The court considered the complexity of the litigation, the extensive expert evidence, and the reasonableness of the fees and disbursements claimed.

Applying the principle that costs must be fair and reasonable for the unsuccessful party to pay rather than fully reflective of the successful party’s expenditures, the court concluded that the amounts claimed exceeded reasonable expectations.

Significant reductions were made to both fees and disbursements.

Costs were fixed at $406,000 in fees and $200,000 in disbursements, plus applicable taxes.

The plaintiffs brought a negligence action against a municipality arising from a single‑vehicle collision on a rural road curve that caused catastrophic injuries to a young driver.

The court considered whether the municipality breached its duty under s. 44 of the Municipal Act to keep the roadway in a reasonable state of repair, focusing primarily on inadequate warning signage and the absence of an advisory speed sign for a sharp curve.

Expert evidence established that proper signage, including a 40 km/h advisory speed tab and additional warning devices required by the Ontario Traffic Manual, should have been installed.

The municipality had not conducted any evaluation of the signage following amalgamation and allowed substandard signage to remain in place for years.

The court found the municipality liable for failing to maintain the road in a reasonable state of repair, but also held the driver contributorily negligent for failing to sufficiently reduce speed in snowy conditions.

The appellant radiologist failed to detect a cancerous lesion on the respondent's liver following colon cancer surgery.

The respondent later died of metastatic colon cancer.

A jury found the appellant negligent and awarded substantial damages, concluding that the delayed diagnosis deprived the respondent of a greater than 50 percent chance of being cured.

The appellant appealed, arguing the jury's finding on causation was unreasonable, the trial judge erred in her charge regarding survival versus cure rates, and the jury failed to properly discount future income loss for adverse contingencies.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the jury's verdict was supported by expert evidence, the jury charge was adequate, and the damages award was reasonable.

The defendant physician appealed an order of a master compelling him to attend an examination under Rule 39.03(1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure in advance of a motion to strike the statement of claim in a medical negligence action.

The defendant argued that the motion to strike raised only legal issues concerning pleading sufficiency and therefore evidence was irrelevant.

The court held that once the defendant asserted in his factum that he was unable to respond to the allegations, his ability to respond became a relevant issue on the Rule 25.11 motion.

The plaintiffs therefore had a prima facie right to examine him on that issue under Rule 39.03(1).

The court found no error in the master’s reasoning and upheld both the examination order and the costs award.

The 15-year-old applicant child sought a review of his emergency admission to a secure treatment program under section 124(9) of the Child and Family Services Act.

The child contested four of the five criteria for admission under section 124(2).

The Board found that the child suffered from a mental disorder that grossly impaired his capacity to make reasoned judgments, had caused or threatened bodily harm to others, and that the secure treatment program was the least restrictive method appropriate for his needs.

The application for release was denied.