Mussio Goodman Protects Clients Rights and Privacy Against ICBC

Advancing an ICBC claim for injuries and lost wages requires a claimant to disclose relevant medical and employment records. However, ICBC should not be entitled to a “fishing expedition” by gaining access to a claimant’s entire medical and employment history with the hopes of finding something they can later argue is relevant. As a firm representing the interests of injured plaintiffs, we strive to ensure that ICBC is held to this standard.

In our recent case Iyer v. Gill, ICBC applied to the Court for an order compelling our client to produce medical and Worksafe records dating back 14 years prior to the accident.

Mussio Goodman argued that such a broad disclosure was not relevant to the claim and unfairly invaded the privacy of our client. Master Scarth of the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled in our favour, finding that such disclosure was disproportionate and overbroad. The Court found that the documents we had already disclosed in support of our client’s injury claim were sufficient, and therefore dismissed ICBC’s application.

This ruling underscores the benefit of hiring a lawyer to protect both your rights and your privacy over the course of your ICBC injury claim.

Mussio Goodman Achieves Successful Judgment as Reported by Local Media

As reported in the Vancouver Sun, 24 Hours Vancouver and Global News, Mussio Goodman is pleased to announce that, after a two week trial conducted by our lawyers Jeff Locke and Michelle Gillespie in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the jury awarded our client $216,500 for pain and suffering, lost wages, and medical expenses.

This jury award comes after ICBC refused to settle for any compensation whatsoever for the injuries that our client, Dainya Watson, sustained in an accident on January 11 2013. On that day, Ms. Watson was traveling on horseback along the shoulder of a road in Langley when she was struck by a driver that refused to stop after the collision. The impact caused both her and the horse to fall, causing injury to both.

ICBC’s simple argument was that, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, our client should not be believed, and that an accident never even happened. Meanwhile, our client continues to receive multiple injections along her spine to help alleviate her pain.

Thankfully, in Ms. Watson’s case, the jury rejected ICBC’s assertion that our client should not be trusted, and compensated her for what she deserved.

Mussio Goodman Achievement Successful Judgment in Han v. Park 2015

We are pleased to announce that the British Columbia Court of Appeal has ruled in our client’s favour in Han v. Park 2015 BCCA 324.

In 1999, our client was involved in an car accident which caused significant injuries and substantial wage loss over the following years.

Prior to hiring our firm, she was represented by another lawyer during her initial trial in 2013. Unfortunately, and in part to several strategic and legal mistakes, our client was awarded only a fraction of what she sought, and what her claim is actually worth.

Understandably, our client sought to challenge what she believed was a miscarriage of justice. We agreed to help and successfully appealed the jury’s decision to the BC Court of Appeal on several grounds.

The Court of Appeal agreed that the trial judge was in error by allowing the jury to read several documents that were largely irrelevant to her case and only served to prejudice our client. It is not unusual for an ICBC defense lawyer to attempt such tactics, but unfortunately our client’s previous lawyer did not raise any objections.

Our Argument and Court’s Decision

However, we argued and the Court agreed that the trial judge should have properly exercised her function as a gatekeeper and prohibited such inflammatory evidence from being viewed by the jury. The Honourable Madam Justice Stromberg-Stein, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, ruled as follows:

[34] …The inclusion of some of the clinical records and material contained in the Exhibit had the effect of portraying the appellant as a difficult, manipulating, and stubborn individual. As appellant’s counsel states, this portrayal shifted the focus of the jury to the appellant’s negative character traits, rather than to the main issues of the trial.

[35] The respondents’ trial counsel assured the judge all the documents in the Exhibit would be referred to in the cross-examination of Ms. Han but they were not. Some of the documents were irrelevant, some were prejudicial, and some were inflammatory. The Exhibit was marked outside the presence of the jury – the trier of fact – which is an irregularity. There was no document agreement in place, so the basis for the appellant’s consent to the admission of the Exhibit is not clear. Even with consent, the trial judge is always the gatekeeper.

[36] In my view, the Exhibit should not have been admitted en masse. Some of the documents and records should not have been admitted at all, as their admission was highly prejudicial and resulted in a substantial wrong or miscarriage of justice.

[37] On this ground alone, it is in the interests of justice to order a new trial.

Our client has been fighting for fair compensation from ICBC for over 15 years, and we are proud to have played a supporting role in her journey. This case is also a reminder from the highest Court in our province that the unfair tactics employed by ICBC and their lawyers will not be tolerated.