June is Brain Injury Awareness Month
June is Brain Injury Awareness Month in Canada. With over 20,000 Canadians being hospitalized each year with an acquired traumatic brain injury (per Government of Canada website) there is a huge need for public education around...
Court awards young, pregnant mother with soft tissue injuries $90,000 in non-pecuniary damages
Ms. MacDougall was rear-ended while driving in Nanaimo in 2017. At the time of the accident, Ms. MacDougall was 19 years old and 29 weeks pregnant and her 5 year old daughter was in the back seat. Background Prior to the accident, Ms. MacDougall was a “caring and...
Local photographer awarded $190,000 for pain and suffering after losing his creative muse
John Boyd of Collette Parsons Corrin LLP obtained a $240,000.00 verdict in favor of plaintiff following a November/December 2020 trial. Mr. Brian Howell was an upcoming photographer in Vancouver when an accident resulted in the loss of his creative muse. Mr. Howell's...
Lifeguard awarded $120,000 in non-pecuniary damages for injuries while sitting in parked car
Ms. Morgan was waiting to pick up her boyfriend from work and sat in the driver’s seat of a parked vehicle with her left knee bent and foot on the seat. A vehicle driven by the defendant backed into Ms. Morgan’s vehicle, causing her knee to impact the bottom of the...
Law Student Awarded $2.75 Million for Capacity Loss Despite Delaying Law Career
After a July/August 2020 trial, Richard Parsons and Greg Hoff of Collette Parsons Corrin LLP obtained a $3.3 million verdict for a plaintiff who took a significant period of time away from her career to raise her young family. Background The Plaintiff was a promising...
June is Brain Injury Awareness Month in Canada
June is Brain Injury Awareness Month in Canada. With over 20,000 Canadians being hospitalized each year with an acquired traumatic brain injury (per Government of Canada website) there is a huge need for public education around the prevention and impact of traumatic...
Retaining a Personal Injury Lawyer
Prior to retaining a lawyer in a personal injury case, you would be wise to ask about how you will be expected to pay the lawyer. Usually, personal injury lawyers will charge on a contingency fee basis; meaning the lawyer will charge a percentage of the amounts...
Pedestrian crossing the street hit by car resulting in a traumatic brain injury
On June 25th 2010, at around 11:00 pm Mr Alarcon was heading home, on foot, after having had a few drinks with a friend. At the same time, Mr Lee was rushing home in the usual traffic and found himself accelerating to change lanes, and avoid stationary cars. Without...
Concussion: New Standards and Ever-evolving Guidelines for Treatment, Care and Research
As the evidence base around the incidence, circumstances and symptoms of concussion grows, new opportunities arise for the management and coordination of care, and associated services. Although the treatment of concussion or Mild Traumatic Brain Injury requires...
ICBC Case – Pickup truck and tractor trailer collision on highway 16 near Prince George
A car accident can change the course of your life, and those around you. And the sad truth is that in a moment, the slightest angle, or movement can make all the difference. William Hogstead, unfortunately, suffered a severe head injury in a car accident which took...
Police pursue ATV; rollover and spinal cord injury results; significant award for passenger
ATV Accident resulting in a spinal cord injury to our client On August 11, 2013, mechanic, and family man, Mr Parlby was travelling rural trails in an ATV he had repaired with childhood friend Mr Pelland. The last time Mr. Parlby’s wife, and mother of his young...
Helmets – Legal Obligation or Legend?
Over the years many of our clients have suffered head injuries while cycling, riding motorcycles or longboards, skiing or skating. We strongly recommend that everyone who could possibly benefit from wearing an approved helmet while engaging in sporting activities...
Your Client’s Mental Health: What every lawyer needs to know
On November 3rd, 2017, we appreciated the input by various specialist professionals, as Dan Corrin co-chaired this information-rich session on how to deal with mental illness in litigation; Your Client’s Mental Health: What every lawyer needs to know. The conference,...
ICBC Car Accident Resulting in Brain Injury
Gabor v. Boilard, 2015 BCSC 1724 The Case of the Accident of Ms. Gabor “The experts agreed that no other area of medicine is as controversial as mild traumatic brain injury [296]” In the case of Ms. Gabor, liability was admitted, and the facts of this matter of the...
The Case of Michael Paur and St Paul’s Hospital: Negligence
Cases dealing with brain and head injury involve a complex and highly specialized aspect of the law. In cases of medical malpractice, the depth of experience required, as well as knowledge and awareness of the clinical, and legal aspects involved, is substantial....
Chronic pain and depression – what’s the link?
Chronic pain and depression – what’s the link? A recent study on mice, conducted by scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, found that chronic neuropathic pain (pain from nerve injury) can induce genetic changes in areas of the brain...
Review and Clarification on the law on “confidentiality between patient and doctor” in a legal context
As part of a significant medical malpractice decision released in Ontario (Bauer v Kilmurry, 2016 ONSC 7749 (CanLII) ) the court discussed important issues regarding physician / patient confidentiality. The plaintiff, Ms. Bauer, had a medical condition requiring...
Depression following brain injury or concussion
It’s upsetting to read stories about the death of young people, directly or indirectly, related to brain injury or concussion.Ty Pozzobon’s death following his concussion is certainly a tragedy. The CBC story discusses the statistical frequency of depression following...
The ever-changing world of concussion rehabilitation
Concussion Rehabilitation Research A recent article in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) suggests that physical activity following concussion (in youth) is better than rest. The study itself examined symptoms for PPCS (persistent post concussion...
Diagnosis “Concussion”: Legal battle or medical?
In most personal injury cases involving an “mTBI” or “concussion”, there is no physical evidence of the injury. In other words, actual damage to tissue can not be seen and must be inferred from the mechanism of injury and observed symptoms. Most of the medical...
