Accident and Injury Lawyer Ches Crosbie Meets the Press
Ches Crosbie is often asked to give legal analysis and commentary on newsworthy cases. He has been featured CBC and NTV.Our Cases in the News
Some of the cases we handle at Ches Crosbie Barristers received media attention. If you are a client with a newsworthy accident story your statements to the press may have an impact on your legal case and/or shape the public's perception of the case (which may be important). Therefore, always consult with your lawyer before agreeing to an interview with the media.
Below are a few examples of press releases and media interviews which Ches Crosbie has been asked to comment on.
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Accidents and Injuries
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Appeal decision protects some medical information: lawyer
Jun 23, 2010The Telegram
June 22, 2010
A recent Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court of Appeal decision should help prevent "fishing expeditions" in personal injury cases, says a St. John's lawyer.
"It's a strong corrective," said Ches Crosbie of the recent decision in an auto accident case.
"It increases the level of protection that people have in requiring confidential information of a medical or financial nature, unless there's demonstrated relevance to it."
In the case, Crosbie had appealed a decision on a court application that would have required his clients alleging injury to hand over detailed medical and financial information from three years prior to the December 2005 accident.
That included particulars on every doctor's visit, as well as to other health professionals and prescriptions.
The request was in response to an initial statement of claim that did not detail specifics of the personal injuries.
"The result of the application judge's decision was to legitimate too broad a range of questions at that stage of the proceeding," the Appeal Court decision reads.
"In so doing, he gave little or no consideration as to whether the plaintiffs' personal privacy was unnecessarily or disproportionally intruded upon."
The court said the search for information could have provoked "potentially unnecessary intrusion into the plaintiffs' private affairs."
The three-justice panel - Denis Roberts, Derek Green and Gale Welsh - said both sides should bear their own costs in the matter, considering the nature of the initial statement of claim.
Crosbie said it's been general practice in this jurisdiction to make a broad claim.
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Ontario Awards Climb Towards $20 Million
Dec 18, 2009Two recent eye catching Ontario decisions in personal injury cases show that courts in that province do not shy away from very large numbers.
In one case, the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed an award of more than $15 million plus costs, given after a six week jury trial. The defendants appealed on both liability and damages.
In another case, a trial judge awarded a 15-year-old girl and her parents a total of $18,427,000 in damages. She had been severely brain injured in a crash. She was unemployable and required 24-hour supervision.
The judge awarded the maximum non-pecuniary general damages allowed by the so-called trilogy cases, namely $336,968. The plaintiff's mother received $160,000, her father $125,000, and her brother $50,000 for loss of guidance, care and companionship.
Most of the award was taken up with future care costs, at over $15 million. The court accepted evidence of a healthcare economist that healthcare costs are expected to rise at a rate greater than the general rate of inflation, and used a discount rate more generous than the prescribed rates. The defence argued for a 25% contingency deduction from the future cost of care award to reflect the possibility of diminished life expectancy, but the court held that the burden of establishing reduced life expectancy rested with the defendants. In the absence of such evidence, the court concluded that the plaintiff had a normal life expectancy.
(For Ches Crosbie's blog comments and links to these decisions see Ontario Courts Not Afraid of Large Numbers.)
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Province Has Lowest Injury Cost
Aug 21, 2009According to a new study of the human toll of injuries in Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador has the lowest per capita injury related cost in Canada. The total of direct medical costs and indirect costs was highest in Alberta, at $918, and lowest in this province, at $518 on average per resident.
Smart Risk, a charitable group that promotes injury prevention, commissioned a lengthy report entitled "The economic burden of injury in Canada" released recently. The cost of injuries both accidental and intended in Canada per year was reckoned at almost $20 billion.
The leading cause of all injury deaths was not transport related incidents, but suicide - responsible for 3,616 deaths in 2004, according to the report. Transport related incidents, including motor vehicle collisions, claimed 3,067 lives, and falls, most involving seniors, claimed 2,225 lives. -
Media Reports Lawyer's Options For Copter Crash Victims
Apr 06, 2009In a front page story, the Telegram weekend edition reported advice given by St. John’s lawyer Ches Crosbie to family members of those who perished in the Cougar/Sikorsky helicopter crash. On March 12, 2009 Cougar Flight 491 hit the ocean with tremendous force 11 minutes after losing oil pressure, killing 17 of the 18 on board.
Mr. Crosbie had posted a blog discussing legal options for family members, and responded to questions from a Telegram reporter. Mr. Crosbie is a well known St. John’s personal injury and class action lawyer.
Mr. Crosbie was reported as saying that the bar on lawsuits under the Workers Compensation legislation likely would not apply. For more, see: Telegram article, Cougar’s Response Tardy?, and Families Review Legal Options in Wake of Copter Crash. -
Record $17 million injury award upheld
Jun 17, 2008Canadian Court Upholds $17 Million Verdict for Injured Child
That’s right – a Canadian court has upheld a verdict worth $17 million awarded by a jury to a child who was two years old when he fell out an apartment window and suffered devastating injuries. This largest ever award was made by an Ontario jury, and in a decision released in spring 2008 the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the award.
Harvinder Sandhu, now 13 years old, was just a toddler when he fell through a broken screen of his aunt and uncle’s fifth floor apartment on Toronto’s Martin Grove Road. The broken screen had been reported more than once to the building’s superintendent.
Harvinder “suffered numerous injuries, including a frontal lobe brain injury so severe that he will never be gainfully employed and will always require supervision,” the appeal court noted. The boy requires constant care.
The Ontario Superior Court jury awarded the plaintiffs $12,936,145.60 in January of 2006. Trial judge Justice Carolyn Horkins awarded and extra $4,182,039.02 in guardianship costs, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.
The apartment owners raised 12 grounds of appeal to the panel of three Justices. For starters, the jury’s award was $1.336 million more than the plaintiff’s counsel had recommended in her jury address. The jury awarded the highest amount of non-pecuniary general damages permitted by the Supreme Court of Canada at $311,000, $100,000 to each of Harvinder’s parents and his brother under Ontario’s Family Law Act, plus damages for loss of future income at the highest level based on a retirement age of 65. The panel of judges dismissed all 12 grounds of appeal.
The appellant apartment owners also complained that the trial judge had wrongly allowed the entry of evidence of repairs. The appeal court disagreed, stating that the fact that repairs to the screens were made quickly and inexpensively after the accident was relevant to show that the appellants had failed to meet a reasonable standard in keeping the building in good repair or in making reasonable inspections for safety defects.
The appeal judges would not overturn this jury verdict against the weight of the evidence unless it was “so plainly unreasonable and unjust as to satisfy the court that no jury, reviewing the evidence as a whole and acting judicially, could have reached it.” They did not view the outcome of the 2006 trial as unreasonable or unjust.
The lawyer who represented the plaintiffs in the court of appeal said this is the largest personal injury award affirmed at the appellate level in Canada. She also viewed the $100,000 derivative award to Harvinder’s brother, Parminder, “a vindication” because she has long fought for the recognition of the effect of devastating injuries on siblings.
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Local Physician Held Liable to Cancer Victim
Jul 22, 2009In a recent medical malpractice case, Arnold's Cove family doctor Peter J. Cleary has been ordered to pay damages to a former patient for failing to diagnose mouth cancer over a nine month period. The cancer could have been treated with minor surgery but progressed to the point where "commando" surgery on the patient's tongue, jaw and chest was required to cure the cancer.
Sixty-two year old Clarenville native Basil Courtney was awarded an amount close to one million dollars for his extensive injuries in a Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Trial Division decision released in early July. An amount of $165,000 was awarded for pain and suffering.
Dr. Cleary argued that cancer patients should expect a lower quality of care from doctors in Newfoundland than exists elsewhere in North America. The court rejected the argument (see para. 99).
Mr. Courtney, a pipefitter, had complained of a sore mouth during five visits to the doctor between July 1999 and April 2000. The court found that the physician was negligent in failing to do a proper examination and in failing to refer to a specialist for investigation and diagnosis. -
Moose Vehicle Class Action lawsuit given Court approval
Jun 09, 2011On June 7, 2011, Justice Richard LeBlanc gave the Plaintiffs in the Moose Vehicle Collision Class Action approval to proceed against the government as a class action. The legal term is "certification". This is a big deal. As a certified class action, we have full rights to carry on with our case against the government on behalf of all class members.
Of course, we would prefer that the government now enter into a mediated settlement. Stay tuned. -
Press Release - Moose Collision Statistics Go Up
May 11, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
May 11, 2011 CHES CROSBIE, 709-579-4000
MOOSE COLLISION STATISTICS GO UP: RCMP
The moose vehicle collision rate in Newfoundland is higher than previously thought, according to an RCMP review.
The RCMP completed a comprehensive physical review of accident reports and other records for 2009 and 2010, in response to a request from Ches Crosbie Barristers, a St. John's law firm bringing a class action against the Provincial Government. Mr. Crosbie released the new statistics today.
"The final numbers show an increase of 3 collisions to 658 for 2009 and an increase of 7 to 702 for 2010," said Mr. Crosbie. "When combined with the RNC statistics, the totals are 684 for 2009 and 783 for 2010." The information from the RCMP is posted at http://www.chescrosbie.com/library/Stats_from_RCMP___revised.pdf.
The RCMP figure of close to 700 released by Mr. Crosbie in February was rejected by Environment and Conservation Minister Ross Wiseman in the House of Assembly in March as "totally inaccurate".
The physical search done by the RCMP now shows that an earlier count based on a computer search underestimated the collision rate, and the total reported by both police forces for last year is closer to 800.
Mr. Crosbie added that equally important as the high number of moose collisions each year is the fact that the number is increasing. "Tragically, we can expect another grim harvest of injury and death this summer," he said.
The class action lawsuit seeks a reduction in moose densities, erection of moose fencing, and compensation for people put in hospital or killed as a result of moose vehicle collisions.
CHES CROSBIE BARRISTERS
169 Water Street, 4th Floor
St. John's, NL A1C 1B1
Telephone: 579-4000 or 888-579-3262
Facsimile: 579-9671
ccb@chescrosbie.nf.net
blog: http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/
Twitter: twitter.com/chescrosbie
Facebook: facebook.com/chescrosbiebarristers
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Dr. Clevenger to Produce Report on Moose Vehicle Collisions and their Mitigation in Newfoundland
Mar 31, 2011On Thursday March 31 at 10 am in the conference room of the HUB on Merry Meeting Road, SOPAC (Save Our People Action Committee) will introduce Dr. Clevenger who will release a report which will highlight the activities of SOPAC.
SOPAC President Eugene Nippard speaks for the group and states " we are delighted to host Dr. Clevenger to our Province, he is a world renowned wildlife biologist who has specialized in research around moose vehicle collisions and their Migration patterns. His report and findings will help SOPAC and others in dealing with issues around the growing number of moose who are dangerously walking onto our highways.
Dr. Clevenger is from Alberta Canada and is currently a research scientist for the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at Montana State University, his report is entitled ""Moose-vehicle collisions and their mitigation in Newfoundland". Dr. Clevenger states "The continuing and unmitigated moose-vehicle collision problem in Newfoundland is serious with regard to public safety, ecosystem health, and the financial cost of the accidents to society. Today there are many effective mitigation options available that provide long-term cost benefits, which Newfoundland Transportation and Works could be implementing as standard practice to mitigate moose-vehicle collisions. Neighbouring provinces and states are investing in fencing and wildlife underpasses to mitigate moose-vehicle accidents in their jurisdictions, while Newfoundland's Department of Transportation is sitting idle and doing virtually nothing. I can see no good reason why the Department of Transportation is not currently implementing the most effective and proven measures to mitigate moose-vehicle collisions on their highways in the 21st century."
SOPAC will release the full report at the conference and will have a contingent of its members from all over the province who have been involved in some way with Moose Vehicle Collisions.For information regarding the Press Conference, interviews with Dr. Clevenger, and or media kits, please contact
Wanda Cuff Young
709.685.5563 or 709.834.3134
We will also have available members of SOPAC who can participate in interviews. In order to accommodate requests.
Please advise me on any special interest and I will work to accommodate
Media Kit contains; SOPAC overview, Dr. Clevenger Report
WCYI has been retained to help facilitate the SOPAC agenda for March 31
For Questions related to SOPAC, Please contact President Eugene Nippard at 709 486-7373
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Moose Vehicle Crash Victims Sue
Jan 11, 2011This CBC video sums up the moose class action.
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Ches Crosbie Barristers
169 Water Street
St. John's, NL
A1C 1B1
Phone: (709) 579-4000
Fax: (709) 579-9671
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