How are Damages Calculated from a Motor Vehicle Accident?

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Once liability (or legal responsibility) for a motor vehicle accident has been determined the remaining question is the quantum or amount of damages to be awarded.  There are 5 different heads of damages that must be considered in arriving at the final amount: past wage loss, future wage loss, non-pecuniary damages, costs of future care and special damages.

The legal principle that governs the entire process of awarding damages is that, insofar as is possible, the plaintiff should be put in the position he or she would have been in but for the injuries caused by the defendant’s negligence.

Past wage loss deals with the victim’s lost earnings from the accident up until the point of trial.  This amount is determined through employment records, medical records and any other relevant materials.

Future wage loss is a much more involved process.  Once again employment records and medical records will be relevant.  In addition, high school records, university records and your family history will be reviewed.  The Judge must consider how long you likely would have been able to work as well as how much money you likely would have earned but for the incident.  The Court must consider variables such as the likelihood of your early death, economic downturns and likelihood of another debilitating injury.

Non-pecuniary damages compensate a plaintiff for their pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life up to the date of the trial and in the future. The essential principle derived from the jurisprudence is that an award for non-pecuniary damages must be fair and reasonable to both parties and should be measured by the adverse impact of the particular injuries on the individual plaintiff.  This valuation is completely up to the discretion of the Court. Awards vary a great deal depending on the type of injury and the type of person that was injured.

Costs of future care are awarded on the basis of what is reasonably necessary to promote the mental and physical health of the plaintiff having regard to the medical evidence.  To determine the appropriate award the Court must be satisfied that there is a medical justification for claims of future care and the claims must be reasonable.

Special damages cover a person’s reasonable out-of-pocket expenses they incurred as a result of an accident.  The expenses claimed must be limited to those expenses which are restorative rather than putting the injured person in a better position than before the accident.

In British Columbia, all of the above heads of damages are added together and paid out to the injured party as a lump sum.

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How to Change the Name of a Business?

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Change of Business Name

Approximately 30 years ago, you started a masonry business.  You decided to call this company “Smith’s Masonry Services”.  Business was good so you started to look at adding different business lines.  You found that there was a need for masonry in the assembly of fireplaces.  Things further evolve and you notice that there is a demand for the installation of the fireplaces.  As years pass on your firm is capable of installing fireplaces.  Business is booming, in fact there are so many requests for the installation of fireplaces, that your original masonry business is almost inactive.  Because of this change in business your company’s name may be somewhat misleading.

How does a business change their Company’s name?

In British Columbia, there are two steps.  The first step is to request a name approval.  This step is to ensure the public is not confused or misled by similar corporate names.  New corporate names must be approved by the Corporate Registry.  Before making application for the name approval, one should conduct an online search of the registered BC companies and organizations database on BC Online to ensure that new business name is not already taken.

The second step is file a change of corporate name.  In order to submit the application through Corporate Online you will need your incorporation number, company password and Customer Profile ID.  If you do not have a Customer Profile ID, you need to create one on Corporate Online before you can file the change of the company name.  Also, companies must be in good standing with all filings up-to-date before altering the company name.

As per the Government of British Columbia Website, these are the 3 most common reasons why names are not approved:

  1. Name is too similar to an existing corporate name within the same industry.
  2. Research was not conducted before applying to make sure the name wasn’t already in use.
  3. Name lacks a distinctive and/or descriptive element.

 

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Civil Resolution Tribunal

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The Civil Resolution Tribunal is designed to provide affordable access to justice in BC.  As stated in the Supreme Court of Canada in Hryniak v Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7, “Ensuring access to justice is the greatest challenge to the rule of law in Canada today.  Most Canadians cannot afford to sue when they are wronged or defend themselves when they are sued, and cannot afford to go to trial”.

The Civil Resolution Tribunal has attempted to combat the access to justice problem by making the process cheaper, expedited, easier to understand and more navigable.  One of the more interesting facets of the Tribunal is that it is Canada’s first online tribunal.  The entire process from initiating a claim, negotiations and the final decision of the tribunal is done online.

The Tribunal started off as a forum for strata property disputes but has expanded into facilitating small claims disputes of $5,000.00 and less.  Interestingly, the Tribunal is going to expand further into Motor Vehicle Accidents and certain Societies Act and Cooperative Associations Act disputes.  Motor Vehicle Accident disputes are expected to begin being heard by the Tribunal in April of 2019 but there is no specified date yet for the Tribunal to start hearing issues related to disputes under the Societies Act and Cooperative Associations Act.  It is likely that the Tribunal will only hear matters related to Motor Vehicle Accidents that are fairly simple in nature with damages capped at around $50,000.00.

The Tribunal contemplates active participation by those who will actually end up being effected by the dispute, namely the plaintiff and defendant.  The Tribunal will only make a decision for the parties if the parties are unable to agree to a solution on their own.  The Tribunal is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week from a computer or mobile device that has an internet connection.

The Tribunal’s online dispute resolving program is ground-breaking, being the first of its kind in Canada.  It is likely that the jurisdiction of this Tribunal will continue to expand within BC once the public gains more confidence in the process.

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