The plaintiff sued her former lawyer for negligence and breach of contract arising from an allegedly improvident settlement of her accident benefits claim in May 2014.
The plaintiff claimed the lawyer failed to advise her adequately regarding income replacement benefits, failed to discourage her from settling prematurely, and failed to advise her of the potential for catastrophic impairment designation which would have entitled her to significantly enhanced benefits.
The court found that while the lawyer breached the standard of care in several respects, the plaintiff failed to establish causation because she did not prove she would have acted differently with proper advice.
Additionally, the plaintiff failed to mitigate her damages by not attempting to set aside the settlement when she became aware of the defect.
The court also found the plaintiff failed to establish that she would have been found catastrophically impaired.
The action was dismissed.
