Will Ontarians be Permitted to Traffic in Life Policies
Bill 162, Insurance Amendment Act (Life Settlements), 2017
Life settlements, also known as trafficking or trading in life insurance policies, involve the disposition by the insured of all rights under a life insurance policy to a third party in exchange for a cash payment. This payment is frequently...
WAGG Motions – don’t forget the audio recordings
Wagg motions refer to motions for the production of police or Crown documents. They are referred to as Wagg motions because of the case of D.P. v. Wagg (“Wagg”), which sets out the process to be followed when seeking these...
Deciphering the Duty to Defend
The Court of Appeal for Ontario recently considered an Ontario Superior Court judge’s decision regarding an insurer’s duty to defend in the context of a maintenance contract. In August 2013, a worker employed by the landscaping company Lafleur de la...
Automatic Vicarious Liability of Owner Only Applies to Accidents on Highways
One of the first lessons that any student of personal injury law learns is that an owner of a motor vehicle is vicariously liable for the negligence of the vehicle’s operator. This vicarious liability is imposed by s. 192(2) of...
And the Times They Are A’Changing The Evolution of Insurance Coverage for Medical Marijuana – Update
In our previous publication[1], we discussed the incremental extension of coverage for medical marijuana under various types of insurance benefit plans and recent caselaw regarding insurer funding for medical marijuana. By way of update, Skinner v. Board of Trustees of...
Intentional Acts, Artful Pleading and the Duty to Defend in British Columbia
The recent Supreme Court of British Columbia case of Co-operators General Insurance Company v. Kane, 2017 BCSC 1720 confirms the broad manner in which British Columbia courts interpret the duty to defend, and the extent to which that duty can...
More on the MIG from the LAT
The License Appeal Tribunal (LAT) has released a number of decisions dealing with the application Minor Injury Guideline (MIG) to injured persons. In a recent decision, T.S. v. Aviva General Insurance (17-000835/AABS), Adjudicator Christopher Ferguson was tasked with determining whether...
Pre-judgment Interest in the Court of Appeal
The Ontario Court of Appeal decisions of Cobb v. Long Estate 2017 ONCA 717 and El-Khodr v. Lackie 2017 ONCA 716 now provide clarification on the application of the amendment to the rate of pre-judgment interest in s.258.3(8.1) of the...
Slip and Fall Case Dismissed on Summary Judgment Motion: No Objective Evidence of Unsafe Condition
For 9 years, Marian Hamilton resided on the fourth floor of an apartment building in Toronto. In May 2012, at 67 years of age, she slipped and fell on the vinyl floored corridor near her unit She started a lawsuit against...
Case Comment: Ongoing Gatekeeping Duty of Trial Judge Regarding Expert Evidence Bruff-Murphy v. Gunawardena, 2017 ONCA 502
The Ontario Court of Appeal has recently provided direction on the ongoing role of trial judges with respect to the admissibility of expert evidence at trial. As noted by Justice Hourigan “The law regarding expert witnesses has evolved considerably over...
