Canada Case Law

Murphy v. Morgan

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The trial judge erred by applying specific negative contingency deductions to non-pecuniary, past and future earning capacity awards without firm evidentiary grounding or proper legal analysis; the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside those contingency deductions and substituted higher awards: non-pecuniary $175,000; past loss of earning capacity $325,000; future loss of earning capacity $400,000.

Source excerpt

• Causation
• Contingency deductions
• Non-pecuniary damages
• Loss of earning capacity
• Standard of review
• Intervening events

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Henry v. A.B.

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal partly granted Ivan Henry’s application to extend his factum from 30 pages to 70 pages, finding the appeal complex but not requiring 91 pages.

• Factum length/page limit
• Identification evidence
• Wrongful conviction
• Punitive damages
• Dangerous offender
• Charter damages

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FH Development Group Inc. v. Brooks

Court

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal

Because the Brooks did not accept FH's anticipatory breach, the duty to mitigate did not arise until the actual breach on the closing date; the trial judge's factual findings that FH's conduct destroyed trust and that the Brooks' purchase on the competitive open market was reasonable were supported by evidence and insulated the damages award from reversal.

Source excerpt

• Anticipatory breach
• Mitigation of damages
• Reasonable mitigation
• Repudiation
• Purchase of replacement property

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H.D. v. North Vancouver (District)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The District breached its duty of care by failing to maintain clear sightlines at the crosswalk and its feeder stairway such that a reasonably foreseeable risk to child pedestrians existed; the driver also breached the duty to exercise due care by approaching at an excessive speed and failing to keep an adequate lookout; the plaintiff was capable of negligence but contributory negligence was not proven; apportionment of fault is 70% to the District and 30% to the driver; on causation the traumatic brain injury and resultant sequelae (neurocognitive impairment, ADHD symptoms exacerbation, depr…

Source excerpt

• Crosswalk maintenance
• Duty of care
• Contributory negligence
• Apportionment of fault
• Causation
• Cost of future care

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Cox v. Peabody

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court found the defendant solely liable for a left-turn collision and awarded the plaintiff $1,087,110.53 for injuries, income loss, future care and special damages.

• Liability
• Causation
• Non-pecuniary damages
• Loss of earning capacity
• Future care
• Credibility assessment

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Fuentes v. Houghton

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Supreme Court of British Columbia damages decision awarding a pedestrian plaintiff compensation for chronic pain, earning-capacity loss, and limited future care after a motor vehicle collision.

• Non-pecuniary damages
• Loss of earning capacity
• Future care
• Causation
• In-trust claim
• Money management fees

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Templeton Construction Ltd. v. Triumph Eastern Canada Ltd.

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The court held the plaintiffs had not satisfied the 'best efforts' standard for several undertaking requests and must conduct OCR searches, identify locations of responsive records, obtain specified non-party files, provide a supplemental damages brief and answers to outstanding undertakings within set timelines; the case management judge may direct disclosure under Rule 15.07 and ordered productions and processes (including privilege redactions) with hard deadlines and prohibition on reliance at trial of documents found after the deadlines without consent or leave of the court.

Source excerpt

• Production of documents
• Undertakings
• Disclosure obligations
• Best efforts search
• Ocr/document search and protocol
• Privilege and redaction

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British Columbia (Ministry of Children and Family Development) v. H.D.

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal allowed the Province’s appeal, holding universal CLBC benefits must be deducted from future care damages, and dismissed the cross appeal on nighttime care.

• Future care damages
• Double recovery
• Deductibility of government benefits
• Stare decisis
• Standard of proof for hypothetical events
• Undertakings by public guardian

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Desjardins v. KAL Developments

Court

Nova Scotia Small Claims Court

The contract was a cost-plus agreement obliging payment of direct costs plus $10,000 profit and required the contractor to keep and produce proper records; the Defendant failed to produce adequate records and thus failed to discharge the onus of proving its claimed costs, the Claimant proved he was overcharged, and the appropriate remedy within Small Claims jurisdiction is an award of $25,000 plus modest costs; the Defendant's counterclaim is dismissed for lack of evidence.

Source excerpt

• Cost-plus contracts
• Breach of contract
• Implied terms
• Evidence and burden of proof
• Overbilling
• Counterclaim dismissed

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Abdul-Ahad v. Challa

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court varied a final order to add pre-judgment interest, denied double costs, and ordered Scale B tariff costs for the successful parties.

• Pre-judgment interest
• Slip rule (rule 13-1(17) sccr)
• Functus officio
• Offers to settle and double costs (rule 9-1 sccr)
• Tariff costs scale b
• Pre-judgment-interest

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