Warnett Hallen LLP is pleased to share that two of our lawyers recently secured a $128,743 judgment for a client in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Our client was injured in two car accidents that occurred nine days apart in Vancouver. The injuries were serious, resulting in wrist surgery, chronic pain, knee injuries, back injuries, soft tissue damage, and carpal tunnel syndrome.
Lawyers Rory Johnston and Ken Floe successfully represented the plaintiff, 83-year-old Kewal Bains, who was injured in September 2013. Liability for one of the accidents was strenuously contested, and ICBC’s efforts to settle the case were far below what our client deserved.
Although ICBC tried to argue that Mr. Bains was 100 percent at fault for one of the car accidents, we were successful in uncovering an independent witness who observed the crash and had taken photos. With this evidence and after a successful cross-examination of the defendant driver, Gurvinder Singh Kalar, the court accepted our argument that the defendant was 100 percent at fault.
We then presented evidence from the client’s doctors and family members to prove the serious extent of his injuries. Before the crashes, Bains was an active and robust older man who gardened regularly, went bicycling, and was an integral part in the care of his grandchildren, despite some limitations due to a work-related injury years before. The court agreed with our evidence that Mr. Bains suffered significant losses and rejected the testimony of a doctor hired by ICBC to provide a different opinion.
The final judgment was nearly triple ICBC’s final offer before the trial. It was also higher than what Mr. Bains had been willing to settle for before trial, and so ICBC was faced with extra costs as a consequence for forcing the case into a courtroom.
At Warnett Hallen LLP, we are always prepared to go to trial if our clients are not being treated fairly. We won’t let ICBC’s claims of a “last best offer” keep us from fighting for justice if it hasn’t been served. We’re thrilled for Mr. Bains and his family and wish him the very best moving forward.
