Lindsay Charles

This decision concerns the allocation of costs following the settlement of two related personal injury actions arising from a motor vehicle accident.

The court addresses disputes over the reasonableness and recoverability of various disbursements and legal fees, including expert reports, travel, and office expenses.

The court reduces certain disbursements and fees, providing detailed reasons for each adjustment, and clarifies the principles for assessing costs in complex personal injury litigation.

The applicant was involved in a motor vehicle accident in 2018 while a minor but did not notify the insurer of her intention to apply for statutory accident benefits until 2022.

The insurer denied benefits due to the delay.

The Licence Appeal Tribunal held that the Limitations Act did not apply to its proceedings and that section 7 of the Licence Appeal Tribunal Act did not apply to the notice requirement under section 32(1) of the Schedule.

Applying the Horvath factors, the Tribunal found the applicant's explanation for the delay was not credible or supported by evidence.

The application was dismissed.

The Receiver of a deceased personal injury lawyer's professional corporation brought a motion seeking to impose a 'Sliding Fee Structure' on new counsel who took over the deceased lawyer's client files.

The Receiver argued this was necessary to efficiently realize on the estate's interest in the files.

The court dismissed the request to impose the fee structure, finding it would inappropriately override the clients' statutory rights under the Solicitors Act to receive and assess a bill.

However, the court ordered new counsel to provide the Receiver with 'Determinable Information' about the files to assist the Receiver in rendering accounts, subject to a privilege protocol.

The applicant, who sustained a catastrophic impairment in a motorcycle accident, sought payment for case management services provided by registered social workers at an hourly rate of $150.00.

The respondent insurer reduced the rate to $89.07 per hour, the maximum rate for unregulated providers under the Professional Services Guideline.

The Licence Appeal Tribunal held that the social workers fell within the definition of 'qualified case manager' under section 17(3) of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule and were therefore subject to the maximum hourly rate of $89.07 set out in the Guideline.

The applicant's claim for an award under section 10 of Regulation 664 was also dismissed.

The defendants moved to dismiss or stay the plaintiffs' claim under the Fraudulent Conveyances Act, which was added after one defendant transferred property to his wife for no consideration following a personal injury action.

The plaintiffs sought damages exceeding insurance policy limits.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that a fraudulent conveyance claim can be pursued before a judgment is obtained in the main action and that joining the claims avoids multiplicity of proceedings, with the trial judge having discretion to manage the trial process to prevent prejudice.

The applicant, a 14-year-old high school student, sustained a mild traumatic brain injury when she was struck by a car as a pedestrian.

She applied for non-earner benefits, which the insurer terminated after 104 weeks.

The arbitrator found that the applicant's post-accident life was significantly altered by cognitive fatigue, reduced processing speed, and anxiety, requiring extensive accommodations and therapy to complete high school.

Rejecting the insurer's medical assessments, the arbitrator concluded the applicant suffered a complete inability to carry on a normal life and awarded ongoing non-earner benefits and interest.