w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 41
$5 million is "a ton of money," where-
as in Ontario, the way cases have been
advanced has been different. "I have a feel-
ing it has more to do with judicial attitude
than it really is about anything else."
She says B.C. cases can have the "low-
est valuation of damages as well as the
highest" without any real explanation
for the differences in the cases.
"I think there, the tendency to appeal
cases is much higher than in the rest of
the provinces, so overturned decisions
or adjusted damages calculations are
more prevalent, which may explain the
differences. But, in Alberta, we're just
seeing it's consistently low," she says.
Neinstein is trying to take some of
the principles set out by the SCC that
have been lost and bring them to the
forefront. "We're trying to say, 'This is
not what the Supreme Court of Cana-
da meant when they said "reasonable."'
We're bringing those arguments back
and not just accepting discourse on
reasonableness based on what the defen-
dants' lawyers are saying," she says.
They are also looking at the idea of
"sociology" behind care.
"If a family is providing care, it means
the plaintiff isn't entitled for the private
costs and this particularly pertains to chil-
dren. Sure, every parent has to get up in
the night to get a child a drink of water,
WE ARE OF THE VIEW THAT THERE IS NO
REAL PRINCIPLED REASON FOR SUCH A LARGE
DISCREPANCY OTHER THAN A DIFFERENCE IN HOW
DAMAGES CASES ARE BEING ADVANCED BY LAWYERS
IN THE DIFFERENT PROVINCES, WHICH IS IN TURN
IMPACTING DIFFERENT JUDICIAL ATTITUDES
AND PERCEPTIONS ABOUT WHAT IS
REASONABLE AND WHAT IS NOT.
SONIA NIJJAR, Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers
What do your clients need?
The means to move on.
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Kyla A. Baxter, CSSC
PRESIDENT, BAXTER STRUCTURES
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