Forty-four years ago, Fritz Briel, a skilled welder, was injured in a car crash. He suffered brain trauma and was severely disabled. The subsequent case, Briel vs. Darch, was complex but not untypical of motor vehicle accident litigation.
There was expert evidence as to the condition of the cars, independent witnesses to the accident testified and the court learned of the traumatic brain injuries suffered by Briel. One sees similar cases across the province in every courthouse today.
2 comments:
The Crookes libel cases in BC (which I am involved in) started in 2006. A trial was scheduled for last Fall, but the plaintiff adjourned indefinitely. The costs of defending are staggering to all involved.
That article is just dead wrong. Civil litigation, and in particular personal injury/motor vehicle cases are so vastly different now than they were in the 60's that they can hardly be compared.
If you saw a file from the 60s by the time it reached trial, it would have fit into a small brief case. Now the same file would probably fill 4 or 5 bankers boxes.
The reasons for that? Fear? I don't thinks so. The amounts and types of damages claims have expanded dramatically over the years to the point where assessing them properly requires far more expertise than they did 40 years ago.
Further, the insurance legislation in place is dramatically different and more complex than it was in the past. Damages need to be assessed while keeping in mind various collateral benefits as well as ensuring that there will be resourses available in the future from various sources to take care of the needs of people.
Finally, if a personal injury lawyer were to bring to trial in 18 months the type of case that you have cited, that lawyer would probably be grossly negligent. It would be impossible to determine the probable future outcome of that type of an injury in so little time in order to assess the future economic losses.
There are many reasons that personal injury litigation takes longer to get to trial now than it did 40 years ago, but fear of trial is probably very low on the list.
Maybe one of the reasons that lawyers would prefer to wait longer to either settle or try cases is because they would actually like to act in the best interests of their clients now.
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