Canada Case Law

Lau v. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Court found ICBC, Wright and Epstein breached duties to Lau (ICBC and Wright breached duty of utmost good faith and failed to investigate; Epstein breached retainer by failing to advise and act regarding the November 17, 2015 offer). However claims against ICBC and Wright are statute-barred by the Limitation Act as discovered by August 31, 2017. Causation for full avoidance of loss was not proven on balance of probabilities, but the court found defendants' breaches caused a lost chance to avoid or reduce loss and awarded loss-of-chance damages of 15% of Lau's shortfall against Epstein alone (…

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• Duty of utmost good faith
• Solicitors' standard of care
• Loss of chance
• Causation
• Settlement approval for persons under disability
• Discoverability under limitation act

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Proudfoot v. Bryant

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court found solicitor negligence for missing the limitation period on a wills variation claim and awarded damages based on the lost inheritance, with the fiduciary duty claim dismissed.

• Limitation period
• Trial within a trial
• Causation
• Loss of chance
• Will variation under wesa
• Damages assessment

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Hayward v. Baldev S. Ghag Law Corporation

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed a motion to compel disclosure of a settlement amount, holding that settlement privilege was not displaced by concerns about overcompensation or mitigation.

• Settlement privilege
• Overcompensation
• Mitigation of damages
• Production/disclosure
• Loss of chance
• Causation

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Photopoulos et al. v. Primacy Management Inc.

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The court held that the Agreement's holdover clause applied all terms during month-to-month occupancy; clause 10.2 (120 days notice and two-year restrictive covenant) remained operative during holdover; Primacy breached by giving less than 120 days' notice and by sub-licensing to another medical clinic within two years; the $5,000 liquidated damages provision was not a genuine pre-estimate and was void as a penalty for the range of breaches it purported to cover; Applicant's loss of chance was compensable and, after adjustments (COVID impact and avoided rent), damages were assessed at $33,223…

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• Holdover clause
• Termination notice
• Liquidated damages
• Loss of chance
• Mitigation
• Punitive damages

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Greengen Holdings Ltd. v. British Columbia (Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

On a post-judgment application, the court refused to revise a $10.125 million damages award, holding the contingencies were properly treated as cumulative reductions.

• Misfeasance in public office
• Loss of chance
• Damages calculation
• Contingency reduction vs probabilistic aggregation
• Discounted cash flow valuation
• Judicial discretion in damages assessment

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Thind v. Smith-Gander

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court found Ms. Smith-Gander breached her duty of care in a limited family-law retainer, but the plaintiff proved no compensable loss beyond nominal damages.

• Solicitor negligence
• Scope of retainer
• Loss of chance
• Mitigation
• Setting aside default divorce order
• Nominal damages

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Martell-Norman v Brown

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Defendant quit on January 15, 2015 and thereby breached his contractual obligations to continue supervising the apprentice and to refrain from competing; those breaches foreseeably deprived the plaintiffs of the use and value of the acquired business and of the apprentice's chance to qualify, entitling plaintiffs to compensatory damages assessed by estimating lost business profits and lost chance rather than return of the purchase price; defendant's counterclaim is dismissed.

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• Breach of contract
• Non-competition clause
• Loss of chance
• Consequential damages
• Sale of business
• Quantification of damages

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Woods v. Jackiewicz

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court dismissed the appeal: the jury had an evidentiary basis to infer that amnioreduction would have been available and performed at McMaster in 1991 and would likely have avoided the injury; the trial judge fairly and adequately instructed the jury on causation, did not err in refusing an adverse inference instruction, and was not required to add a separate lost chance direction that would risk confusion.

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• Causation
• Standard of care
• Expert evidence
• Adverse inference
• Loss of chance
• Jury charge

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Fadelle v. Samuelsen

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Defendant breached the standard of care by allowing mortgage funds to be advanced without confirmed insurance and failing to notify the client of the lack of coverage; this breach deprived the plaintiff of a real and substantial opportunity to secure insurance (loss of chance), causation is established on a balance of probabilities, but plaintiff bears contributory negligence; damages are reduced 40% for lost chance and 30% for contributory negligence, resulting in judgment of $176,186.00 plus interest and costs.

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• Duty of care
• Standard of care for solicitors
• Causation
• Loss of chance
• Contributory negligence
• Damages quantification

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RINC Consulting Inc. (Roustan Capital) v. Grant Thornton LLP

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

Although GT breached the engagement by terminating the survey, appellants failed to prove causation between that breach and their multi‑million dollar share losses; alternative evidence obtained by the appellants (SurveyMonkey) and appellants' own post‑meeting conduct undermined causation; claims for loss of chance, special damages and nominal damages were not supported; appeal and cross‑appeal dismissed and each party to bear its own costs.

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• Breach of contract
• Fiduciary duty (refusal to recognize)
• Causation of loss
• Loss of chance
• Nominal damages
• Costs allocation

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