Spring is here and there are some interesting developments at the LAT. In this webinar, ZTGH LAT Co-chairs Peter Durant and Rebecca Brown Greer will be joined by Jessica Telfer to speak about recent case law, including a potential new trend regarding the rescission of a prior settlement and the LAT's apparent departure from never awarding costs. |
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Key LAT Decisions - March + April 2023 |
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Connor Elliott blogged on Velliaris v. Economical, where the LAT determined that the applicant could not add two treatment plans to the dispute a month prior to the hearing. The ruling was made on the basis that it would not give the insurer enough time to respond to the new issues in dispute. The fact that the limitation period had not elapsed to dispute the the treatment plans to be added was found to result in a lack of prejudice to the applicant. Such issues could thus be dealt with in a subsequent application to the LAT.
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LAT Motions can be an extremely useful tool used by the parties prior to, or during, a LAT hearing, before the substantive dispute is decided. That said, just because a party can bring a Motion, does not necessarily mean that it should. Jessica Telfer blogged on the recent decision Syed v. Security National, where the applicant's motion for a case of contempt to be stated to the Divisional Court as a result of the insurer and its counsel's actions, and his request for punitive damages, was found to warrant a costs award in favour of the insurer of $2,000.
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Eric Grossman and Adrienne Bramson blog on the recent the LAT decision in RBC General Insurance Company v Kuhanesa Balasubramaniam which affirms that the LAT will deny an application to vary or revoke a FSCO Order if the proceedings commenced after June 8, 2019.
Read the complete blog on our website.
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Juny Kim blogs about a recent decision, Pope v. Aviva, involving an applicant who settled her claims in 2002 on a full and final basis, and in 2022 attempted to rescind the settlement. The applicant argued that a number of technical deficiencies in the SDN were sufficient to set aside the prior settlement. However, the LAT disagreed, finding that where the Settlement Regulation was substantially complied with, no recession was available.
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Following Ashley Shmukler's article on res judicata in 2022, Ashley has written on a recent decision from that LAT involving a MIG decision that had been released in 2020.
Does the LAT leave the door open to re-litigate MIG issues? Only where there is new evidence that following the release of the initial decision an applicant's condition worsened such that they no longer fell within the MIG.
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We have a LAT team of over 40 lawyers and we are always here to help.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions you might have about the LAT or a file you are working on.
We look forward to connecting.
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In March we are proud to put the spotlight on ZTGH partner, Suzanne Clarke. Suzanne became partner at the firm in 2021 and she works primarily in accident benefits, tort, and general liability claims. She is co-chair of our simplified procedure group and is a member of our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion group. Suzanne is one of our go-to trainers on prepping for a hearing, particularly CAT hearings, because she has done so many. She is truly beloved in our firm, a thoughtful and generous mentor, we all benefit from Suzanne’s leadership.
“Suzanne is a dedicated mentor and a strong advocate and litigator for her clients. She is hardworking, kind, and smart. I am lucky to be able to learn from Suzanne and work alongside her. As a new lawyer, Suzanne has been a tremendous help in developing my own practice and skills." – Laila Khalil
On April 5th, 2023 Suzanne Clarke chaired the Black Cultural Competency for Insurance Defence Lawyers webinar. This was an important webinar for our industry - addressing systemic anti-Black racism and discrimination in the justice system. The program was hosted by the Canadian Defence Lawyers (CDL), with speakers from the Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC). The recording is available through the CDL, to find out more, click here.
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