Category Archives: Practice and Procedure

Pleadings, discovery and other issues involving the Rules of Civil Procedure.

Plaintiff Permitted to Increase Claim to $4 M Over Policy Limits

In Bach v. McKellar, released this afternoon, Master Robert Beaudoin dealt with a situation that arises frequently in insurance litigation. The claim arose out of a motor vehicle accident. The original pleading, issued within the two-year limitation period, claimed damages … Continue reading

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C.A. Says Motions Judges Shouldn’t Decide Difficult Questions of Law

In a decision released this afternoon, the Court of Appeal has taken a rather narrow view of the powers of lower court judges to decide legal issues prior to trial. It is well-recognized, that motions judges may not decide factual issues, … Continue reading

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Two new decisions deal with “Privilege”

Two Superior Court decisions released this afternoon contain some interesting observations with respect to the law of privilege. (Admittedly, some of our subscribers might quarrel with the juxtaposition of the adjective, “interesting”, with the phrase, “law of privilege”.) Before we … Continue reading

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Service of Expert’s Report Waives Litigation Privilege on File Material

A Superior Court judge today dealt with a question that arises frequently in civil litigation: to what extent must “the findings, opinions and conclusions of an expert” be disclosed to an opposing party prior to trial? In Lecocq Logging Inc. … Continue reading

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S.C.C. Looks Again at Standard of Review

The Supreme Court of Canada has today released an interesting decision in which it has reaffirmed the standard of review to be applied by appellate courts in Canada : “palpable and overriding error”. In H.L. v. Canada (Attorney General), the … Continue reading

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Summary Judgment in Head-on Collision Case

In Hussain v. Uddin, Mr. Justice Gerald F. Day has taken the somewhat unusual step of granting a defence motion for summary judgment in an action arising out of a motor vehicle accident. The moving defendants, Mr. and Mrs. Noack, … Continue reading

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Divisional Court Says No to Bifurcation of MVA Jury Trial

 It is not uncommon these days to see parties, usually defendants, ask for a “bifurcated trial”. In most cases, this means that liability would be tried first and then damages would be assessed at a later date, in a second … Continue reading

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Calculating Interest

Many people who deal with personal injury damages claims (including lawyers and judges) don’t know (or don’t know that they don’t know) how to calculate prejudgment interest. This edition of the CW Update will summarize the applicable rules. The Courts … Continue reading

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No Right to IME in Absence of Adequate Supporting Evidence

A just-released Superior Court decision reminds us that defendants are not automatically entitled to have a personal injury plaintiff examined by multiple medical practitioners, from various disciplines. They must establish, through evidence, why such examinations are needed.

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Underwriting File Ordered Produced

Royal & SunAlliance v. Lombard and Allianz is a Divisional Court decision from last month that slipped by us. It’s of some interest, so better late than never… RSA is suing Allianz for reimbursement for the amount paid to settle … Continue reading

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